The Hollow
by Carmen O'Reilly
Summary: HI! This is my 1st fanfic! Ichigo wakes up one morning and discovers that he has Hollow eyes... Things get crazy really quickly and Ichigo loses it. Possible mild language. R&R! NO YAOI!
1. Chapter 1

The sunlight assaulted his eyes as he rolled over and groaned. His head pounded as he stumbled from his room and into the bathroom. He splashed water on his face and grabbed a towel, vigorously scrubbing his face. He placed his hands on the side of the sink and sighed. He gazed into the mirror. Something was wrong. His eyes slid over his ginger hair, nothing new there. He looked at his face for some sign of change, nothing apart from being slightly paler. He looked harder, willing the answer to come to light. Ichigo cursed silently. How had he not noticed this before? His eyes. That was what was different. They weren't brown, like normal, they were black. Black and yellow. Hollow eyes. What was wrong? Why had this happened now? His hollow had been silent for ages. It surrendered it's strength when he needed it, it didn't try to eat anyone's soul, it didn't attempt to take over his body...so why was this happening?

"Onee-chan?" someone called from behind the door. It was Yuzu.

"Yes?" Ichigo croaked.

"Are you going to be long, Onee-chan?"

"No, why?"  
"I need my shower Ichi! Remember?"

"OH! I'm sorry! Yeah, yeah, I'm done." Ichigo croaked again.

"O—Onee-chan, you don't sound so good. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ichigo said, trying to sound upbeat, and opened the door. He walked past his little sister without meeting her eyes, praying that she wouldn't notice his eyes. She didn't. Yawning slightly, Ichigo went back into his room and closed the door. He got back into bed and closed his eyes, feigning sleep. Inside, he was seething. How was he going to deal with the eyes? He considered wearing sunglasses all day, but with the constant sound of rain hitting the roof of the Kurosaki clinic, he knew it wouldn't work. He contemplated faking being ill, but his dad was a doctor, so that wouldn't work either. Irrational anger possessed him as he tried to puzzle out what to do. Annoyed, he tossed in his bed until his headache flared up again. Groaning quietly, he buried his head under the covers. _Run away. _ Ichigo sat bolt upright. Run away? That was insane! Why on earth would he do that? If anything, he should stay OUT of the public. _Run away, Ichigo._ No, that was just crazy. But what else could he do? It wasn't like he could just tell—

Ichigo's thoughts were interrupted by a monstrous yell from outside his window. He cussed. Dad's morning wake up routine. Deftly, Ichigo sat up and watched with amusement as his 43 year old father came hurtling through the window. He crashed into the closet and cursed. Ichigo grinned and curled up again in his bed. But Isshin wasn't having it.

"GET UP YA LAZY-!"

He was cut off by Ichigo smashing a pillow into his face.

"SHUT UP! I HAVE A HEADACHE! GO DOWN STAIRS AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" Ichigo yelled.

His dad smiled evilly. With another yell, he leapt into the air, elbow pointing towards his son's stomach. Ichigo sighed and rolled out of bed. He stood up and grabbed his dad around the waist. He dragged him over to the window and threw him out. Isshin screamed like a baby as the ground came closer and closer. He landed awkwardly on his back and began to cry. Yuzu ran out of the door and started fussing over him. She looked up and saw Ichigo slam his window shut. There was something different about his face, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

Ichigo growled as he settled back down in bed again. Why couldn't his dad just let him sleep? What was so hard about letting a 15 year old have a peaceful night's sleep? Something stirred in the back of his mind.

_Run away, Ichigo._


	2. Chapter 2

I forgot to mention earlier, but I DON'T OWN BLEACH (unfortunately)!

Rukia looked around the busy classroom. She smiled. She enjoyed going to school. It was much less stressful than the Soul Society. She smiled as Tatski and Orihime waved at her. She waved back and continued to scan the classroom for Ichigo. She nodded at Chad and Ishda and went over to talk to Orihime.

"-you CAN'T eat ice cream with chillies!" Tatski was saying.

"Yes you can!" Orihime replied smiling. TAtski shook her head. Rukia smiled again. Orihime had a weird diet. Tatski noticed Rukia and began to talk animatedly about her upcoming tournament. She hadn't talked about anything else for ages. Rukia nodded as the familiar details were repeated, unable to stop looking around the classroom for Ichigo.

"Kuchiki-san, who are you looking for?" Orihime asked, cutting off Tatski.

"Ichigo, why?"

"Ichigo? He wasn't at his house when I went over." said a new voice. Rukia turned to see Keigo standing behind her, looking a little upset. "He never does that to me. Normally, he shouts down at me from his window if he isn't coming in and Ichigo hasn't EVER ditched me. I've got no idea what's up."

"I'll swing round the clinic tonight and ask his dad, Keigo. I'll tell you what he said tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan Kuchiki." Keigo said, sounding relieved.

She smiled as he walked off, and then frowned to herself. Ever since she and Byakuya had come to the real world, she hadn't once slept at Kurosaki clinic. She would definitely go over there tonight. The teacher walked into the room and everyone hurried to their seats. Rukia stared out of the window as she began to take the register. What was wrong with Ichigo?

Ichigo hadn't been in school for the rest of the day. Rukia walked down the path towards the Kurosaki clinic frowning. Ichigo wasn't one to cut school. She walked past the familiar shops and houses until she reached the Kurosaki clinic. She knocked on the door. It was opened by Karin. Rukia noticed how her eyes tightened and a hopeful smile faded away as Karin saw her. Her heart sunk into her feet.

"Hello, Rukia, what can we do for you?" she asked, in an upbeat tone which sounded forced.

"Hi Karin. I'm looking for Ichigo. He wasn't in school today and I was worried. Where is he?"

Karin's eyes widened. "He wasn't in school? I saw one-chan leave for school this morning! What do you mean he wasn't in school?"  
"I mean he wasn't in school Karin. Why?"  
" I thought he left and that he was just late home! DAD!" she yelled. Isshin hurried into view.

"Ichi wasn't-"

"I heard. Kuchiki-san, I think you'd better come in."

Rukia walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. She heard Isshin talking down the phone and watched Karin wrapping an arm around Yuzu. She stood and walked up the stairs and down the corridor. She knocked on Ichigo's door and waited. No response. She pushed it open and walked over to his bed. She grabbed a little stuffed teddy that was lying on his messy covers. Immediately, it came to life.

"Nee-san!" Kon yelled, ridiculously happy to see her.

"Kon, have you seen Ichigo?"

"Please, nee-san! It's ALWAYS about Ichigo! He's always the most-"

"Kon, quit it! It's important! Have you seen Ichigo today or not?" she asked, anger giving her words an edge.

Kon nodded. "Yeah! I saw him this morning. It was before he went out. There was something weird about his eyes."  
Rukia felt coldness creep into her. "What was different about his eyes?"

"They were black and yellow nee-san. He needs to chill out with the contacts. They were just TOO creepy!"

Rukia dropped him and opened the window, ignoring the squeals of protest behind her. Without thinking, she launched herself out and landed noiselessly on the ground below. She took off running.

"Oh Ichigo!" she muttered, "What have you done?"


	3. Chapter 3

Hi! It's me again. I'm sorry for my mistake last chapter in calling Tatsuki "Tatski" instead. Thanks for pointing that out !

I don't own Bleach!

Ichigo watched Rukia run out of his house and down the street. It amazed him how nobody ever bothered to look in the garden. He smiled bitterly. His headache hadn't left him all day, despite taking about six painkiller tablets. His eyes hadn't changed either. He didn't know why he wasn't going to go back home, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't where he should be. His heart felt full of glass as he watched Yuzu sobbing and Karin trying to comfort her through the kitchen window. He saw his dad walk over to the girls and talk to them. Yuzu put her head on the table and sobbed harder and Karin began to yell at him. Isshin put his hands up and continued to talk. Karin sat down, petulantly. Isshin went over to Yuzu and put an arm around her. They sat like that for a while before Yuzu got up and went up the stairs. She wouldn't sleep well. Isshin went up after her. Karin stood up and opened the window. Ichigo could see her face was streaked with tears.

"Onee-san," she whispered into the night air, "onee-chan, please come home. Please. Or, if you can't come now, hurry, please."

Ichigo couldn't breathe. He wanted desperately to answer her, to run inside and comfort Yuzu, to fight his dad, but he couldn't move. He hung his head in shame. Karin stared into the sky before shutting the window. He saw her go up the stairs. Ichigo continued to watch the now empty window for a minute, before turning around and jumping the garden wall. He walked down the side street and headed for a place he hadn't seen in years.

Rukia ran past the park, the graveyard, the school, the shops, Urahara's shop and stopped running when she got to the town centre. Where was he? Kon had said Ichigo had black and yellow eyes when he'd seen him, and that could only mean his hollow was active. If Ichigo's inner hollow was acting up, where would he go? Her mobile phone beeped. Ever since she and Byakuya had come to the real world, he'd insisted upon her carrying a phone everywhere just in case something bad happened. Sure enough, Byakuya was calling her. She sighed and accepted the call.

"Onee-sama?"

"Rukia, where are you? You're not home and it's nearly 7."

"I'm sorry, Byakuya-sama. I'm looking for Ichigo. I think his inner hollow is giving him trouble. He hasn't been seen all day. I'm...I'm worried onee-sama." she said, her voice cracking at the end. On the other end, Byakuya sighed. It sounded like a rush of static.

"Rukia, if he hasn't been seen all day, it's unlikely you'll find him now."

"Onee-sama!"

"You have half an hour Rukia, then you come home. If you haven't found him then, I'll help you find him tomorrow. If we can't find him then, it's out of our hands."

"Thank you onee-sama! I'll be home by 7:30! I promise!" Rukia said, relief in her voice.

"Take care, Rukia." Byakuya said as she hung up. Rukia smiled and thought hard. Where would he go? The answer hit her then. _The train tracks._


	4. Chapter 4

Hi! I just love all the people who are reviewing my work! Thanks so much! I don't own bleach!

Ichigo sat down on the grass by the tracks. His mother had died here. He'd blamed himself for _so_ long that his face had forgotten how to smile. He closed his eyes against the clutches of the memories. He turned his face to the setting sun and felt something dig into his consciousness. His hollow had tried this all day. He hadn't been dragged into his inner world yet (which he was grateful for), but it wasn't long off happening. He could feel things becoming more and more chaotic. He wondered how Zangetsu was doing. He worried slightly about his sword's spirit, despite the times he'd been beaten up by him. He felt the wind blow through his hair and over the back of his neck. His stomach growled. It was starting to annoy him. He hadn't eaten all day. He had bought a chocolate bar earlier that day, but he'd taken a bite and he had nearly thrown up. If he was so hungry, why couldn't he digest a simple chocolate bar? Something started to irritate his nose. He sniffed to try to clear it. A beautiful, delicious, _wonderful_ smell filled his nostrils. His empty stomach growled. He turned around to find the source of the smell. He saw someone running towards him. He stood up and watched as they neared. The figure was female- small, with black hair and large eyes. It was Rukia! What was she doing here? As she neared, the smell tickled his nose again. All his thoughts went blank; his muscles tensed and predatory instinct flooded his brain. He smiled as his dinner neared.

Rukia saw someone sitting on the grass near the train tracks. The sunlight made his hair look like fire. It was Ichigo. She ran towards him, a smile drifting across her face. She saw him stand and smile. She skidded to a stop. Ichigo was smiling? That was unusual. She looked into his eyes and gasped. It was just like Kon had said. They were black, with yellow irises. Seeing Ichigo smile was... weird. It sent shivers down her spine.

"Ichigo! What in the world has happened to you? Karin and Yuzu are out of their minds with worry! Why are you here? What's up?"

Ichigo didn't answer. The sweet scent was so consuming, he was beginning to forget who this person standing in front of him was. He shifted his weight onto his other foot and closed his eyes, letting his instincts take over.

"Ichigo?"

Slowly he opened his eyes and stared at the woman in front of him. She had concern written all over her face. Slowly, the concern faded into wariness. She was getting spooked.

"Ichigo, if you are just messing around with me, I swear, you will regret this."  
The smile broadened.

Rukia stepped backwards, sinking into a karate stance Tatsuki had shown her. Ichigo mirrored her defensive stance, still smiling crazily. Rukia gave out tough talk, but inside she felt like crying. What had happened to Ichigo? Was he even in control? Could he hear her? Ichigo crouched down into an attack pose. Rukia breathed deeply and reached into her pocket, gripping the object in there tightly. His eyes followed her movements.

"Run." Ichigo hissed in a voice that wasn't his. Rukia didn't need to be told twice. She turned on her heels and ran away as fast as she could.


	5. Chapter 5

Once again, thank you for the reviews and correction I've had. I don't own Bleach.

Rukia ran for her life down the nearly empty streets of Karakura town. She pulled the object out of her pocket. It was her phone. She called Byakuya as she ran, straining her ears for sounds of pursuit. He answered on the first ring.

"Rukia, what's wrong?"

"I found Ichigo, but it's worse than I thought! I think his hollow has completely overtaken him!" she said, breathless and worried.

"Rukia, get back home NOW! That thing ripped me apart like I didn't even matter in my bankai! Come back home!" he implored.

"I would, onii-sama, but I think he's-"

"Found you!" hissed a voice from above her. Ichigo stepped off the top of a house and landed in front of her. She couldn't stop in time so she stretched out her hand and pushed off his chest, momentum causing her to turn down a side street. She heard an indignant growl from behind her but didn't stop. She put the phone to her ear.  
"—et home now! Rukia, get rid of your gigai and come home!" he sounded worried, she was touched despite her situation.

"See you in a minute onii-sama!" she shouted.

She ran another few metres before freeing herself from her gigai. She sent a voice message to Urahara asking him to pick it up and apologizing for just dumping it. She stopped running and took a deep breath. Then she stepped into the air and flashstepped into Byakuya's flat. He had left his own gigai on the sofa and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her closer and flash stepped away.

Ichigo growled angrily as he arrived at the flat, too late to catch his dinner. The delicious scent perfumed the air. There were two different smells though, and his stomach growled viciously. He followed the scent until it ended with some form of energy. _Spiritual pressure_, something muttered in his head, _follow it._

So he did. He felt the smell call him, so he followed. He stepped through the air after it.

Rukia stepped away from her brother and stared at her surroundings in amazement. They were in a dark room, which was set up like a hide-out, with cupboards of non-perishable food items, sleeping bags, and first-aid kits. Byakuya walked over to a wall and touched an inconspicuous panel on the wall. Instantly, the darkness was replaced by a dim glow that brightened gradually so it wouldn't blind a person. A computer screen hummed as it came to life on another wall.

Byakuya walked over to it and touched the screen.

"Scan Kuchiki Byakuya and Kuchiki Rukia." he said clearly. The computer hummed again before replying:  
"Yes Shinigami."

A blue light scanned them both and the computer processed the data. After a minute, the computer flashed green and Byakuya keyed in a password. It flashed again and a set of options lit up the screen. Byakuya selected an option.

"Defence mode slected." the computer said.

"What's defence mode, onii-sama?" Rukia asked nervously.

Byakuya's voice was devoid of any emotion as he replied. "It turns this hide-out into a secure vault, impenetrable and anyone on the inside is safe until the threat leaves. If it doesn't eave willingly, there is also an offensive mode, which converts the room into an amplifier for one's zanpak'to attacks. The power increases up to six times."

Rukia's eyes widened. She clasped her hands behind her back. _Please, Ichigo, _she begged silently, _please don't come here!_


	6. Chapter 6

Hiya! Sorry I haven't posted anything in ages, I've been unable to get on the computer. . This will hopefully make up for it! I don't own Bleach... If I did, Orihime wouldn't be in it as much and Aizen would be funnier.

Byakuya watched Rukia intently. She was stood by the window, watching it like it was the most interesting of things. He sighed quietly. She was watching for _him_. Ichigo Kurosaki: part-time Shinigami, part-time Hollow, full-time pain. And here she was, worrying about him. What she saw in him, he would never know. He closed his eyes and started to breathe deeply. Soon, he was relaxed. Pink cherry blossoms danced behind his eyelids as he was pulled gently into his inner world. Senbonzakura stood before him in his inner world. It looked surprisingly like the Kuchiki manor, but _much_ bigger.

"Senbonzakura? Why have you pulled me in here?"

"You are troubled, Byakuya," replied the masked warrior, "I wanted to know why."

Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think I'm worried?"

"This world reacts to your emotions. Lately, it has been prone to shattering, much like your nerves."

Byakuya closed his eyes and shook his head. Senbonzakura was observant, if a bit...strange.

"Fine. I'm worried about Rukia. She is spending a lot time in the real world. So much so, that I worry about whether she will return to the Soul Society. She will only further harm herself and our families' name if she decides to go against the orders we **will** receive to return. Also, the current situation with Kurosaki trying to _eat_ us tends to send one's emotional balance awry."

"Do you want to know what I would do?"

"Not really."

"I would tell her how you feel."

Byakuya tried to remain calm, but his inner world gave him away. A window pulsed before shattering. Senbonzakura turned to look at it. He didn't seem to be able to look away. Byakuya could feel ghostly hands shaking his shoulders, but he couldn't respond back. He needed to wake up NOW. Senbonzakura turned around. His masked face watched his master carefully. Understanding flowed between them like a river. He walked over to his master and touched his forehead. Byakuya closed his eyes and when he opened them again, Rukia was shaking his shoulders vigorously. She was paler than before and looked on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

"Rukia? What's happened?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant. It didn't work.

"Look out the window Onii-sama." she whispered. Byakuya did so. Outside, Ichigo was prowling around, smiling demonically and black-eyed. No mask had formed yet, which was highly unusual. This was the most hollow-like behaviour Byakuya had seen him display.

"Don't worry Rukia. There's no way that he could possibly get in here."  
Rukia laughed humourlessly. "This wouldn't be the first time he's done the impossible."

Byakuya considered this. He crossed to the wall and pressed a switch.

"Offensive mode, activated." The computer hummed. The floor shuddered and a hole opened in the centre. A pole shot out and opened up like an umbrella, only made of stone. It opened up to form a long, thin, hollowed out piece of stone. Byakuya slotted his zanpakto inside. The stone closed over the sword and Byakuya took a deep breath and shut his eyes.

Rukia turned her back to the window. She couldn't watch.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura"

Ichigo smiled evilly as he saw the hut hum. He laughed as the rush of pink death hurtled towards him, dodging easily. One of the petals sliced his arm. It healed in a puff of white smoke. He could imagine Byakuya growling in frustration. He laughed again.

Byakuya's eyes widened as he saw that Ichigo was perfectly fine. Why could the kid ALWAYS do that? It was beyond irksome.

Ichigo pointed his fingertips at the building. The impenetrable building. The safe, last resort. A black and red energy coiled around his fingers.

Rukia turned around. She gasped. "A cero!" she screamed. Byakuya cursed silently and attacked again, pushing most of his spiritual pressure into Senbonzakura. He watched as the thousand pink blades shot towards the boy.

The attacks hit at the same time. The walls buckled as the cero disintegrated them and Ichigo was thrown backwards, blood dancing in the air as the blades attacked him. He didn't get up.

Byakuya stared at the hole in the wall in disbelief. He walked over to Rukia and was just about to take her hand when something slammed into his back. It was sharp, electric and malevolent. He stepped back, feeling blood running down his back. He gasped as his legs hit the ground. He heard Rukia horrified screaming as everything went black.

Rukia screamed as her brother collapsed in a rapidly forming pool of blood. She heard insane laughter outside. Ichigo was standing up, blood pouring from his wounds. There was a puff of white smoke and his body healed itself. Ichigo looked at the man on the floor and laughed again, swaggering inside. Rukia tried to move, but her legs wouldn't obey her.

_It's his spiritual pressure, _she thought, _it's immobilised me!_ Closer and closer he came, that demonic smile on the face she had come to care so deeply about. She could only stare as he came within a centimetre of her and, almost lazily grabbed her throat. He hoisted her off the ground, random laughter bursting from his lips. Rukia coughed and tried to kick him. He grunted and his eyes narrowed. He hoisted her above his head and slammed her into the wall. Rukia cried out as her head connected. Black spots danced in her vision and she felt blood soak into her head. Ichigo laughed darkly and licked his lips. Rukia's eyes widened and she felt terror clutch at her heart.

_So this is it, _she thought as she stared into her friend's merciless eyes, _this is how I'll die. _


	7. Chapter 7

Hi! I'm really into this story! I don't own Bleach! Please R&R! Thanks to everyone who has already! I'm thinking of doing another Bleach story soon. It'll have zombies and ghosts of shinigami and... well, any more and that would be telling. ;)

Rukia stared into the merciless eyes of the monster who was also her friend.

_So this is how I'll die..._

Suddenly, the iron grip on her throat loosened. She sank to floor, gasping in a huge lungful of air. She closed her eyes as she coughed and coughed. She heard a groan from in front of her. She felt a familiar spiritual pressure surround her. She opened her eyes. Ichigo was lying on his back, eyes shut, lips pressed together tightly.

"I-Ichigo?" she asked, hesitantly.

"Run, Rukia. I can't stay in control for much longer. It's too strong."  
"Ichigo, what's happened?"

He barked a laugh. "I don't know, Rukia. I wake up this morning with yellow and black eyes, getting angry _very_ easily...I didn't want to hurt anyone so I left. I didn't go to school, I tried to stay away. I made it to the train tracks. Then you snuck up on me. I now understand why hollows target shingami. They _do_ smell incredible."

Rukia laughed shakily. "Is there _any_ way to help you?"

"I don't know, Rukia. Please, just get Byakuya and yourself as far away as you can. I can't—ARGH!"  
"ICHIGO!" Rukia screamed. She stared in horror as Ichigo started to convulse on the floor. She crawled over and grabbed his shoulder. He snatched her hand and pushed her away.

"Leave Rukia! Leave NOW! I can't contain it!" Liquid bone was pouring over his face, leaking from his eyes and mouth, condensing in his orange hair to form a familiar mask. Rukia's eyes widened and she jumped over him. She grabbed Byakuya and flash-stepped out of the room, sparing a look over her shoulder to see Ichigo fighting his complete hollowfication. Fighing and losing.

Ichigo felt a vicious tug at his consciousness as he was finally dragged into his inner world. He woke on the side of a skyscraper, but it wasn't _his_ inner world. The sky was black, the buildings in ruins. It was eerily silent, so silent and complete Ichigo thought he could cut it with Zangetsu. Speaking of Zangetsu, where was he? Ichigo looked around, seeing no-one. He stood up and walked up the side of the destroyed skyscraper. How had everything changed so suddenly?

"Confused?" asked a lazy voice behind him. Ichigo whirled around to see his inner hollow leering at him. It was like a photo negative come to life.

"How're things, _King_?" he said pleasantly, "You feelin' okay?"

"What did you do?" Ichigo asked, confused, "What's going on?"

The hollow laughed. "Can't you tell? I'm in charge now!"  
"How?"

"How? I.. I don't really know. But I ain't complainin'!"  
"I bet you're not." Ichigo pulled out his zanpakto. "So, we fight for control or what?"  
"HA! Wouldn't that be fun! Naw, King, you don't even get a say anymore!" the hollow smiled before vanishing. Ichigo tensed, expecting a strike, but nothing came. Suddenly, the hollow was in front of him. It wrapped its fingers around his blade and forced downwards. It snapped in half. Ichigo stared in disbelief.

"What the-" Ichigo started to say, before he was kicked in the chest. He flew backwards until he smacked into the building. He groaned as he felt blood trickle down his neck.

The hollow smiled and clicked his fingers. Thick, heavy chains flickered to life and coiled around Ichigo's torso. He didn't fight them; he just let the chains bind him. How could he fight? He was too weak. That wasn't an ordinary kick. It seemed to have drained everything from him: his energy, his strength, his resolve..everything. The hollow pouted in disappointment and vanished. The chains jerked Ichigo down.

Rukia arrived at the deserted street, in front of the building. She saw a man in a long green coat, striped hat and sandals approached her. Urahara Kisuke. He whistled as he saw Byakuya. "Wow Kuckiki, where's the party?"  
"In a safe house, 30 miles outside of town, why?"  
"Who crashed it?"

"Guess."  
"Kurosaki?"  
"Got it in one."

"Wow." Kisuke said again, snapping his fingers. Tessai materialized besides him. Without a word, he picked up the fallen captain and set off towards the shop.

"What did our favourite berry do?"  
"Cero. The first one obliterated the wall of the hideout, the second..." she couldn't finish.

"Ah. What's the chance of him coming here?"  
"How would I know? All I know is that his hollow isn't going anywhere. He was hollowfying as I left!" she shouted, unintentional tears falling down her face. Kisuke wrapped an arm around her and escorted her into his shop. Hollows he could deal with, crying girls...not so much.

The hollow sat up. He was in the burnt out husk of the safe house. It sniffed the air. There was the tantalizing smell of shinigami in the air. It sniffed again and licked its lips. It was recent. It got to its feet and sniffed again. The shinigami had flash stepped with an injured comrade. It smiled as it followed the flash-step. It _would _ find its dinner.


	8. Chapter 8

Same old, same old. I don't own Bleach.

Rukia stared at the comatose form of her older brother and sighed. Tessai had done all he could for his wounds, but it was now out of his hands. Byakuya now had to accept the healing, or reject it. Rukia took his hand gingerly and bowed her head. She wondered if Hisana was watching from...wherever she was. She wondered what she would do. Rukia sighed unhappily. It was horrible to realize how little she knew of her own sister. Now the only person who could tell her was unconscious. Heck, one of the only people who could fight Ichigo was unconscious. She closed her eyes and started crying again. She had cried so much in the past few hours. More than she had in her life.

The hollow had arrived at a neat little shop in a quiet part of town. It had been there for some time now and it was getting impatient. There were no signs of life and it was _starving._ Patience might be a virtue, but even the best hollows have little of it.

Rukia felt something tugging at her consciousness. She tried to reject it, but the tugger wasn't having it. Rukia gasped as she felt herself go limp and she was pulled away from her body.

The hollow smiled. Someone had opened the door. A little girl with black hair was sweeping up. _Ururu,_ something muttered in its brain. It was probably Ichigo. It didn't particularly care.

Rukia opened her eyes and groaned. She sat up and looked around. She was in an arctic wonderland, fluffy white clouds sending down huge snowflakes. Rukia smiled. She loved the snow. It wasn't cold either.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" came a gentle voice from her side. She looked over and saw a beautiful woman in a kimono sat on a snow drift. Shirayuki. Rukia smiled at her zanpakto.

"Yeah, it really is."  
"We have a visitor." Shirayuki said and put her hand up to the sky. A man shimmered into existence. He was tall, with wild brown hair and glasses. He stood out for miles because of his black cloak. He had cuts all over his face. Rukia felt a familiar aura surround him. Her eyes widened. He felt like _Ichigo_!

"I am Zangetsu, and I need your help."

Ichigo groaned in the darkness. He could feel the chains around him and he could sense the smugness radiating from the hollow. It set his teeth on edge. His strength had returned ages ago and it had done nothing. NOTHING! He'd tried to force the chains off by raising his spiritual pressure. He'd tried to draw the strength from the chains. He'd even tried pulling the chains, he was that desperate. No good. The silence was overwhelming. The hollow hadn't come to gloat-not once. It was unusual. Ichigo was starting to suspect the hollow wasn't behind his imprisonment. Not that he wasn't going to kill him when he got free. There was also the absence of Zangetsu. The spirit hadn't shown his face once. Had he been absorbed by the hollow? What was going on?

"I was forced out of Ichigo's inner world by his hollow, but it wasn't alone. Something else was supporting it. It isn't that strong on its own. Now, with Ichigo in danger, I've come to you two for help." Zangetsu said, voice even despite his wounds, "There is a good chance that Ichigo has been subdued already."

"Then what do you expect us to do?" Shirayuki asked, sounding disinterested. Rukia glared at the spirit before returning her attention to Zangetsu.  
"How can we help?"  
"I'm sorry to ask this off-topic question, but do you know how Ichigo's resolve for his power is formed?"

"No, why?"

"It comes from his desire to protect. Now, the hollow is the exact opposite. It wants to destroy everything and anything. I, however, am different again. I protect one thing, and will do anything to eliminate anything from destroying it."  
"So?"  
"Ichigo has tried to protect **you** before, and I protect Ichigo. I need YOU to accompany me into Ichigo's inner world to stop the hollow. It's destroying everything. Will you help?"

Shirayuki looked at her mistress. "It's up to you Rukia."

Rukia took a deep breath. "Let's go!"

Ururu whistled as she swept up the courtyard. Mr. Kisuke had suspended all chores because of a hollow, but she just HAD to keep things tidy. There was nothing out there. She smiled. Mr Kisuke wouldn't mind.

Urahara walked around his shop, searching for Ururu. He was in the back of the shop when it hit him. _She wouldn't have..._ He ran to the front of the shop. He saw the diminutive, black haired girl sweeping up _outside_. His eyes widened.

"URURU! GET BACK INSIDE!"

Ururu heard Mr. Kisuke shouting from the shop. She turned around and looked over. She smiled and waved.  
"What's wrong Mr. Kisuke?"

"GET BACK INSIDE!"

Ururu frowned. "What, Mr Kisuke?"  
"GET BACK INSIDE! THERE'S A HOLLOW AROUND!"

"Okay!" she sang, skipping towards the door. She felt something appear behind her. She stopped and turned slowly. A huge, reptilian being stood; ginger mane flowing, black eyes flashing. She started to back away. She heard Mr. Kisuke shouting at her to attack, but she couldn't move. The hollow smiled evilly and something choked the poor girl. She screamed as she was hoisted up off the floor. Suddenly, she went weightless as she was dropped. She heard an outraged roar as she landed in someone's arms. She coughed and spluttered as Mr. Kisuke put her down gently.

"I'm sorry Kurosaki, but I cannot allow you to hurt my assistant."

"Mr. Kisuke…"  
"Shush, Ururu. Go back inside."

"Y-Yes sir!" she said as she ran towards the shop. _I hope he's okay. I'll get Tessai!_

Urahara didn't take his eyes off the hollow. "Leave. If you can understand or not, leave. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you persist."

The hollow growled, it's wound already healed. It sunk low and it's growl became mre menacing.

"So be it, Kurosaki. So be it."


	9. Chapter 9

Hi! I apologise for the typo in the previous chapter. Mre= more. My spelling leaves something to be desired: /. I don't own Bleach, again.

Ichigo groaned from his prison. The chains were getting tighter, so tight blood was starting to flow. He heard laughter from behind him. He twisted his neck as far as it would go, only to find the hollow a lot closer than he'd thought. He was practically sat in his lap.

"ARGH! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SAT THERE?"

The hollow laughed insanely at his reaction. "A while, King. Why? Unnerved?"  
"You have _no_ idea." Ichigo muttered.

The hollow smirked. "What're you afraid of, Kingy? What could I possibly have done to make you so afraid of me sitting here behind you?"

"Take a guess, retard."

The hollow thought for a minute before shaking its head. "And all I wanted to do was show ya your friends. Tsk, tsk, King."

"What?"  
The hollow waved its hand and a screen flickered to life. It fizzed and came to life. Ichigo watched as Rukia escaped during the hollowfication, he saw the hollow waiting outside the Urahara shop, he saw it capture Ururu and felt Urahara slice his arm. He watched as Urahara prepared to fight him. He cussed quietly. The hollow laughed.

"How are you doing this?" Ichigo asked quietly.

"What?" the hollow said, confused.  
"HOW are you doing this? How did you defeat me so effortlessly? How are you able to defy even Urahara? How did you get this strong?"

"Oh! That's easy, King. I had outside help. Ever heard of the Hollow King?"  
"The WHAT now?"  
"The Hollow King!"  
"Now you're making things up!"  
"Not at all, King. I'll introduce ya!"

A man stepped out of the shadows. He was tall and pale with white hair and had crimson eyes. He had a mask obscuring half of his face. The mask was white with jagged green lines going down it. Ichigo stiffened as his spiritual pressure washed over him.

"Greetings, Ichigo Kurosaki. I'm the Hollow King."

Rukia stared at the zanpakto. "You can't be serious!"  
"Deadly." Zangetsu replied, glasses flashing, "To get into Ichigo's inner world, you'll need to rip off the Hollow mask."  
"That's.. that's insane!" Shirayuki spluttered.

"Yes. But it's our only chance."

"Rukia, you don't have to do this!" Shirayuki exclaimed, "It's too dangerous!"  
"Either way, Rukia, Ichigo can't be in good shape, judging from Kisuke's attacks."  
"WHAT?"  
"Urahara is currently engaging the hollow. It's an interesting fight to say the least." Zangetsu grimaced as he faded from the inner world.

Rukia took a breath. "Send me back, Shirayuki."

"Is it pointless to ask if you're going to help him?"  
"Yes. Ichigo has done much for me, and I intend to repay him."  
"Very well."

Shirayuki touched Rukia's forehead and everything dissolved in a flurry of snow.

"The Hollow King? Really?" Ichigo asked, sceptically.  
"Yes. Does it surprise you?" the King replied, dully.

"Yeah. I always thought of hollows as the chaotic, unorganized, uncontrollable kind."  
"The society of the hollows is one of survival of the fittest. Your hollow is untested, as it were, so I allowed it to take over and prove its worth."

Ichigo stared. "So THAT'S why you could beat me!"

The hollow growled and kicked him, which only made Ichigo grin more.  
"Not entirely, Ichigo. You see, unlike others of your _position, _you allow your hollow some degree of freedom and dominance. Gaining entrance to your power reserves was easy for him, so we severed your control and I gave him free rein and cast out your zanpakto spirit. It was easy." The Hollow King smirked. Ichigo's eyes narrowed as he cursed silently.

"So, I doubt your _arrival _is social, so please, tell me why you're talking to me?" Ichigo said, trying to keep his voice empty of emotion.

"Isn't it obvious?" the hollow sneered, "He's here to make ME dominant!"

The Hollow King smiled patiently, like a parent does to a child, and nodded. Then, the strangest thing happened. He clicked his fingers and the hollow went limp. Crimson chains appeared around him and his eyes went huge.

"Correction, I'm here to make ME stronger." The King hissed.

Urahara watched the hollow warily. It snarled as he tried to step back towards the store. He kept Benihime out in front of him and didn't lose his focus. So it came as a complete surprise to him, when someone grabbed him from behind and pushed him out of the way.

"HEY! OH! Miss Kuchiki! What're you doin' here?"  
"About to get myself killed, if I get this wrong, Kisuke."

"What? What are you gonna do, Kuchiki?"  
"Enter Ichigo's inner world."

Kisuke did a double take, Benhime's point lowering to the ground. "You're gonna WHAT NOW?"

Unfortunately, he'd forgotten about the hollow. He remembered as it hit him across his courtyard and into his shop. He hit with a sickening _crunch_.

_That's a broken rib, _he thought to himself. He groaned as he tried to extract himself from the rubble, giving up as his ribs bit into him. He watched as Kuchiki approached the hollow with confident strides, _without drawing her zanpakto!_

"KUCHIKI! ARE YOU INSANE?"

"Probably." she muttered, more to herself than anyone else. The hollow sniffed the air and growled. It extended two reptilian fingers and a cero began to spin. Rukia tensed and jumped. Kisuke watched in horror as she jumped onto its arm and ram up to its face. The hollow growled in confusion and annoyance, dissolving the cero and tried to grab Rukia. She dodged its swipe and grabbed its face.

"See you on the other side, Ichigo." she murmured, before yanking with all her might. The hollow stiffened and screamed, arcing its back and howling. Kisuke watched in amazement as the mask started to give. Rukia smiled triumphantly and shimmered. She tugged again and the mask came off with a crack. The hollow swayed before collapsing heavily onto the ground. Kisuke winced. He looked for Rukia, but she was nowhere to be seen.

_Did she make it?_


	10. Chapter 10

Hiya people! Sorry for the long wait, but writer's block is a terrible thing. As usual, I only own the OC's, not Bleach.

Rukia groaned as she felt water soak into her clothes. She opened her eyes. She blinked. Her fractured reflection was staring back at her. It took her a while to realise that she was looking at a broken window. She looked around at where she was. She blanched as she noticed it was raining _sideways._ The thick black clouds were floating sideways. She looked down at what she was sat on. It was the side of a ruined building.

"It takes some getting used to," a gruff voice drawled, "thank you for coming, Rukia."

"Zangetsu!" she cried, smiling. "Where am I and what's going on?"

"This is Hollow Ichigo's inner world." the zanpakto responded darkly. "Normally the skyscrapers aren't ruins and it's not normally so dark."

"Ichigo's inner world is like this?" Rukia yelled, "What's WRONG with him? Where is he?"

Zangetsu frowned. "I don't know."

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" Ichigo yelled, struggling against his chains, "WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?"

"YOU TELL HIM KING!" the Hollow yelled, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU-"

"WHO ASKED YOU? YOU'RE JUST AS BAD FOR LETTING HIM IN!"

"OH YEAH?"

"YEAH!"

"Oh shush, both of you. You're giving me a headache."

"SHUT UP!" the teens screamed, before turning back to each other. They hurled abuse at each other, the chains restricting them from _actually _harming one another. The imposter tolerated this for another minute before snapping his fingers. Crimson gags appeared over their mouths.

"I believe I told you to shut up."

Muffled complaints and deadly glares were all they could manage. The Hollow King smiled. It wasn't a pleasant sight. "Now, now, let's be civil about this. I want to get my motives perfectly straight. I do NOT want to make the Hollow dominant. I'm going to merge you."

The Hollow went paler. Ichigo noticed. He tried to mutter something behind the gag but it was impossible.

"Intellegent questions are welcome." the Hollow King said, releasing their gags.

"What is merging?" Ichigo asked, confused.

The hollow cussed. "You remember the time Old man Zangetsu and I were one being, King? When you were after the Final Getsuga Tenshou?"

"Yeah…"

"He's gonna do that to US!"

Ichigo cussed.

"Exactly."

Suddenly, a large blast rocked the ground. A freezing gust of wind blew into the place as a hole appeared in the (now distinguishable) wall. A familiar, petite woman with steely look in her eyes climbed through. And that was when all hell broke loose.

"Rukia?" Ichigo shouted, confused and relieved, "How did you get here?"

"We followed the loud voices." She smirked.

"I brought her here." Zangetsu said cooly, climbing inside.

Rukia glared at him. "I brought MYSELF here, thanks."

"When you guys stop arguing, maybe you could help us out here. We are kinda CHAINED UP HERE!" the Hollow growled.

"He's right. You should have helped them." The Hollow King sneered, "But I'm afraid you're too late."

Again, he snapped his fingers and the room exploded. Rukia and Zangetsu were thrown back and debris rained down on them. Smoke blinded there eyes. Amidst the chaos, they heard two voices yelling in pain.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!" Zangetsu shouted, a bright beam sizzling the air, destroying the debris. Rukia got to her feet and ran towards the middle of the blast, following the sound of chanting. Ichigo and the Hollow screamed again. She ran with all her might, dodging chunks of buildings and trying not to slip on the wet surfaces. She arrived in time to see the Hollow King snap his fingers and to see her friend and his inner demon dissolve into smoky red light.

Rukia froze. Zangetsu appeared behind her and cursed. Then, the light began to converge, spinning like a hurricane. Two feet appeared, and then legs, then a torso, arms formed and finally a head appeared. It was Ichigo, but…not Ichigo. The creature had yellow eyes, but white sclera. It had a white zanpakto, but a black uniform. It had a mane of shaggy, ginger hair and two horns. Red chains fell off the being.

The Hollow King smiled. "Attack." he cried.

" He wouldn't-" Rukia said, disbelief colouring her tone.

"He would." Zangetsu said darkly, tugging her collar and running for their lives. The creature smiled and chased after them.

Urahara and Tessai watched in fascination as the mask-less hollow thrashed around on the ground. Tessai had dug his boss out of the rubble and was trying to heal his rib when the shrieking had finally subsided. It was creepier without the screams. The skin was peeling away and crimson light was shining through the boy's eyes. His spiritual pressure was changing so wildly, so drastically, that even Urahara couldn't predict what was going on. SMASH! The last of the skin peeled off, shattering into thousands of tiny fragments. The boy was still.

"Mr. Kisuke?" a timid voice from behind them said. They turned to see Ururu standing there, head bowed.

"Yes, Ururu?" Urahara said gently.

"I—I'm…I'm sorry Mr. Kisuke!" the girl sobbed, covering her face, "I'm so sorry! You got hurt because of me. I'm sorry!"

Urahara swept the girl into the folds of his cloak, patting her back gently. "It's okay, Ururu! I'm okay! You don't need to cry!"  
Still the girl sobbed, regardless of his comforting words.

"Um…Boss?" Tessai called, examining the prone body of Ichigo, "What do you want me to do with Kurosaki?"

"Put him in the back, with the strongest, most reliable restraints we have."

"Yes sir."

With that, he walked back into his shop, half-carrying his assistant. Tessai slung Kurosaki over his shoulder and followed his boss inside.


	11. Chapter 11

Hi people! I looked at the review total and kind of lost my mind. It's around here somewhere... [Goes off and searches avidly]. Many thanks to my reviewers, you guys are amazing! Sorry it's been taking forever to upload. We have rubbish internet. ¬_¬ I don't own Bleach…yet again.

Zangetsu panted heavily as he dragged Rukia along the side of a ruined skyscraper. He paused for a minute, scanning the sideways landscape for anywhere to hide. The building shuddered underneath his feet. He cursed and jumped into the darkening sky, ignoring the girl's shrieks. If he cared what anyone other than Ichigo's nerves were like, he'd have never taught Ichigo bankai. He watched in dismay as the building shattered beneath him. That merging had done more harm than he'd thought. It was unbalancing Ichigo's very soul.

"ZANGETSU! WHAT'S GOING ON?" Rukia hollered, sounding terrified.

"The merging has completely destabilised Ichigo's soul."

"That makes _so_ much sense to me that it sounds like utter nonsense." Rukia muttered.

Zangetsu shook his head. Whoever taught this girl sarcasm clearly didn't understand its destructive power. "Merging for idiots…Basically, it's when-"

"ZANGETSU LOOK OUT!" she screamed. Zangetsu stiffened and flash stepped. An _enormous _black and white getsuga tenshou struck the space he had previously occupied. He cussed. He looked down at Rukia. Her eyes were as big as the moon, large with terror, and she was making a _very_ undignified whimpering sound. Zangetsu felt something behind him. He turned to see two fingertips extended towards his face. Red energy engulfed them and began to spin. Cursing louder, he tried to flash step out of the way, but the boy expected it. He moved at the same time. Zangetsu came face to face with the leering smile, hard eyes and (more importantly) the cero aimed at him by the strange, mutated being that used to be his master. He froze.

"He wouldn't-" Rukia began to say again.

"How many times are you going to say that?" Zangetsu snapped angrily, "Will you need him to actually _fire_ something at us?"

The creature's horrific smile grew wider. "I'd be more than willing to oblige." It hissed in the hollow's voice. Rukia paled. Zangetsu readied himself, preparing for the inevitable attack. The creature was still smiling.  
_Attack first, _Zangetsu thought, _it worked on Ichigo last time._ He took a breath. Quick as lightning, he tore the sword from his back and yelled, "GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

The creature sighed, almost in disappointment. It raised a pale hand and placed it's palm in front of itself.

"He's going to lose his arm!" Rukia shrieked. She watched in horror as the beam connected. Defying everything, it simply flicked- _flicked- _the beam away. Zangetsu swore quietly. Rukia was speechless.

"Is that it?" the not-Ichigo asked, faking disappointment. Then the corners of his mouth turned up into a demonic grin. "Pity. GETSUGA TESHOU!"

Another black and white beam hurtled towards them. Zangetsu turned Rukia away from it and flash stepped away again, and didn't stop until he was sure that the boy was far behind. The boy just smirked. He felt someone appear behind him. He suppressed a growl, turning it into an arrogant smirk as he turned to face the Hollow King. His eyes were stony with displeasure. It just made his smile wider.

Zangetsu stopped flash stepping and set Rukia down. Silence descended on the duo.

"Zangetsu?" she said timidly.

"Yes, Rukia?"

"What the hell is going on? What is merging?"

Zangetsu said nothing for a minute. Then two. He swayed slightly and she heard a hiss of pain as his legs gave out.

"ZANGETSU!" she screamed, jumping to her feet and running towards him. She gasped as she saw a bloody cut running down his torso. Zangetsu propped himself up against a window ledge. Rukia put her hand over the wound and was about to mutter an incantation when Zangetsu pushed her hand away.

"Save your energy," he said, "I've had worse."

"But-"

"But nothing. Remember, Rukia that I can't die. It'll hurt, but I've had worse. _Much_ worse."

Rukia's eyes tightened, but she did as requested.

"Right, merging." Zangetsu said primly, "Merging is when two souls are dissolved and combined to create a new entity. It's _very_ painful and when I say merged, _everything_ is merged: personality, appearance, voice, powers…everything."

"So Ichigo…"

"No longer exists." Zangetsu said; a deeply regretful note to his voice. Rukia lowered her eyes, trying to contain sobs.

"How do you know all of this? I've never heard Shirayuki talk of this."

"First-hand experience."

Rukia's head snapped up. "You've been merged?" she said, eyes wide.

"Yes. Twice. Once with the Hollow and once with Ichigo."

"Ichigo?"

"Yes. That's part of the final Getsuga Tenshou, why? "

"So it's reversible?" Rukia exclaimed, hope creeping into her voice. Zangetsu looked at her. A smile drifted slowly across his face.

"Yes, yes it's reversible."

"How? How do you reverse it?"

"Normally through the desire to split, but it can be done by generating enough force inside of the merged spirit to split it back into two."

"So all we need is lots of power, yes?"  
"Power neither of us have."

Rukia smiled. "I know someone who does have enough power. Ichigo. Why don't we use his power reserves as well?"

Zangetsu smiled. "I like the way you think." he said, looking at her with new respect.

"Now to locate the entrance." Rukia murmured.

"That's easily done," Zangetsu said, "I know where to find it. I'm surprised you haven't noticed it yet."

"Oh? Where is it?"

"Open your senses to spiritual pressure, Rukia."

She did as directed, opening her awareness to spiritual pressure. She stiffened and looked down at the building underneath her.

"Did you do that on purpose?" she said, smiling wryly.

"Do what?"

"Hide directly next to his power reserve on purpose?"  
"Actually, no. I was looking for someone."

Rukia looked at him strangely. "How many people LIVE here?"

"Normally, if you count Ichigo, four."  
Rukia did a double-take. "This guy needs to see a psychiatrist as soon as possible." Zangetsu raised an eyebrow. "That's rich seeing as you're in here too."

"Thanks, Zangetsu. By the way, what should we call him?"  
"I'm sorry?"

"What should we call the Hollow and Ichigo?"  
Zangetsu grinned. "The mergling? How about pain in the-"

"I KNOW! What about Hichigo?" Rukia cried, clapping.

"…No."

"Why not?"

"It sounds stupid."

Rukia narrowed her eyes. "Nothing I do is EVER stupid. Agreed?"

"N-"

"I'll set Benihime and Sode No Shirayuki on you."

"Whatever you say, ma'am." Zangetsu said hurriedly.

Rukia smiled. "Let's go find the power reserves around here and save Hichigo!" And with that, she kicked the glass in the ruined window next to her and climbed inside. Cursing his luck, Zangetsu followed.

"Why if it isn't Your Majesty." Hichigo smirked, bowing.

"Don't `Your Majesty' me, you idiot. Why did you let the trouble makers escape?" the Hollow King growled, eyes flashing.

"Because." he smirked, grin widening. The very picture of insolence.

"Because of what?"

"Because they're more fun to chase when they have a purpose!" he said, glee creeping into his voice. The Hollow King narrowed his eyes and clicked his fingers. Hichigo screeched as the red chains shimmered to life around him. They crackled with power and the screeches became louder. Suddenly, the power stopped and Hichigo was left dangling like a puppet with its strings cut.

"I'm not an idiot. I know that's not the reason." the Hollow King growled.

Hichigo hissed at him.

"You let them escape," he continued, "because Ichigo's personality is still active. You allowed them to escape because you still feel the desire to protect the people you care about. And I'm going to rectify that."

Hichigo's eyes widened as the man stepped towards him. "What are you doing?" he said nervously, watching the man advance with apprehension. The Hollow King didn't respond. Instead, he drew his hand back and struck Hichigo in the head. Hichigo thrashed and shrieked in pain, trying in vain to move his body. The King's fingers shimmered as they passed through his skin and into his skull. The struggling stopped abruptly. The King pushed his hand inside as far as he could and splayed his fingers out. Hichigo gasped in pain, eyes wide. The King poured energy through his fingers and into the poor mergling's mind. A smile stole across the King's face as Hichigo's eyes turned completely red. He withdrew his arm and took a breath.

"Stand." he commanded. Like a robot, Hichigo stood, silent and wide-eyed, awaiting command.

"Hunt down anyone here who isn't under my control and kill them without hesitation and immediately."

"Yes, you're Majesty," came the emotionless reply. The King clicked his fingers and the chains shattered. The mergling turned on his heel and sonidoed away. The Hollow King sniffed and sat down. It was taking too much energy to maintain the merge. He had a bad feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong.


	12. Chapter 12

Hi people! I'm trying to go for a run of posting a few chapters to try and compensate for the waiting you've all had to do because of our AWFUL internet connection. Yet again, evils to the "Super Hub" ¬_¬ [proceeds to smash "Super Hub" with a cricket bat. It breaks.] Anyone else have internet connection problems? [Smiles sweetly] Once again, for anyone who HASN'T cottoned on (really where HAVE you been), I'm not Tite Kubo. So, for my maths teacher; Bleach= Tite Kubo. Me= Bleach + Me= Inspiration + Need for disclaimer.

Rukia followed Zangetsu through the building. Dark corridors blended together and passed on from sight like an infinite maze. They had been walking for what seemed like hours when Zangetsu veered off down a narrow corridor with a door at the end. It was white, with a golden doorknob set in the middle. Zangetsu grabbed it and was about to turn it, when he turned to Rukia.

"Whatever you see in here, you must not laugh. No matter what, okay?" he said, sounding deadly serious.

"Why?" queried Rukia, frowning.

"You'll see." Zangetsu said, grinning darkly, "Promise me."  
"Okay…"

With her promise secured, he turned the handle and pushed open the door. He walked inside, holding the door open for Rukia. She followed him into a brightly lit room. Squinting from the brightness, Rukia stumbled into a chair. Someone supported her and soon she regained her balance. She heard a soft little giggle from behind her.

A giggle?

Rukia turned around and found that she was staring into a pair of sky blue eyes. She stood up and found that her helper was a little girl, no more than 10, with brown pigtails in a faded purple dress. She smiled sweetly.

"Are you alright, lady?"  
"Y-yes! Zangetsu, who is this?" Rukia said, confusion in her voice.

The girl pouted. "That's not very nice. You could ask me, you know."

"I'm sorry. Who are you, little girl?"

"I'm the Guardian," she said, carefully sounding the words out, "I guard King's Spiritual Pressure!"

Rukia's lips twitched. She reminded her of Yachiru. Zangetsu sent her a warning glare. She remembered her promise and swallowed her laughter.

"Right. Okay, so you guard Ichigo's power reserve, yes?"  
"Yes, miss!"  
"Could I have access to them, please, little Guardian?"

"When you guess the password, yeah!"

"Password?"  
"Yep! It's SUPER easy! If you know King, you'll know the password."  
Rukia turned and smiled at Zangetsu. He raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he said, sounding confused.

"The password?"  
"What makes you think I know it?"

Rukia stared at him. "You're part of his soul, right? So you should know the password!"  
"No."  
Rukia glowered at him.

"Excuse me?" squeaked the little Guardian, "But the password's easy. It's a number. The clue's in the name!"

"What about if I promise to bring candy the next time I see you in return for a free-be?" Rukia said, smiling sweetly.

The girl tilted her head, confusion all over her face.

"What's candy?"

"THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! WE NEED ACCESS NOW!" Rukia hollered, angrily, "Don't you CARE what happens to Ichigo?"

The Guardian flushed. "King doesn't even know I exist and I know all about his merging and that nasty Hollow King guy. He attacked me and hooked up meanie Hollow to the power reserve. Since then, I'm not letting ANYONE access without the password."

"But, surely being with me qualifies her automatically." Zangetsu frowned, "After all, I always have Ichigo's best interests at heart."  
"Which is why I gave you a clue. You'll push me no further on this Zan-Zan."

Rukia's lips twitched again. _Zan-Zan, really?_ She silently laughed. Zangetsu shot her evil eyes behind his glasses. Taking a deep breath, Rukia calmed herself. She racked her brains for a while, trying to think up a password.

_It's a number Ichigo would know, and judging from the way that kid is trying not to laugh, it's probably obvious._

Suddenly,the girl's clue ran through her head again.

_The clue's in the name._

It couldn't be that simple…

"Guardian… is the password ichi-go? As in 15?"

The little girl smiled widely and clapped her hands. "YAY! You got it!"

"Well done Rukia." Zangetsu said, sounding mildly impressed.

"No thanks to you, Zan-Zan." Rukia muttered.

Zangetsu glowered at her. Rukia glowered right back. The Guardian snapped her fingers. A bright light filled the room and when it faded away, a shining key materialised in her hands. She knelt down and inserted the key into the floor. She twisted it. With a _click_, the floor opened. Rukia yelped and sprang back against the wall. The Guardian looked up, eerie blue light dancing across her youthful face.

"Now, Rukia," she said solemnly, "what do you want the power reserves for?"

"We need them to stop the mergling and separate them back into two souls once more."

The Guardian smiled. "A worthy cause."

And with that, she thrust her hand into the glowing light. The light brightened, becoming unbearably bright. Rukia shielded her eyes, watching as the light swirled around the tiny child. Zangetsu strode forward, seeming untroubled by the light. He bent down and took the Guardian's hand. Suddenly, the light vanished. Half-blind, Rukia sank to her knees, watching as the building around her disintegrated. Suddenly, the floor underneath her vanished too, and she felt herself go weightless. She screamed as she fell through the floor.

The mergling watched as the building collapsed. He was surprised that he'd never really known about his power reserves before. He saw a girl falling through the floor. There was an instant urge to catch her, but he beat it down. It was one less for him to kill later. He watched as a man in black attire flash-stepped to her and caught her. He looked away, already bored, when he saw a little girl cheering from the remnants of the building. She was very young, with brunette pigtails. He couldn't see anything threatening about her, but his instincts knew better. He didn't know how, but this little girl was the biggest threat of the lot. He had to do something. Immediately.


	13. Chapter 13

Hello! Can I just say a huge thank you to my dedicated reviewers who have put up with my haphazard postings and been really nice on the comments, especially Meakat, who has stuck with this story since chapter 1! Thanks for your support!

Once again, I don't own the Bleach characters, just the OC's.

The Guardian smiled as Zangetsu caught Rukia and clapped her hands. She tackled the Shinigami in a hug of death, laughing and thanking Zangetsu. Rukia prised the little girl's arms off her waist and smiled back.

"Warn me next time you want to destroy the floor, please." Rukia said breathlessly.

The Guardian nodded furiously, before turning around to stare at a building to her left. It was then that Rukia noticed a small sheath on her back. She was positive it hadn't been there before.

"Can you sense it Zan-Zan?" the Guardian whispered, tremulously.

"Yes." he said, "There's no need to whisper. He's already here."

"What? Who's here?" Rukia asked, frowning.

"Me, I suppose." a voice deadpanned, its owner stepping out from behind the building. Rukia gasped. It was Hichigo, but his eyes…his eyes were crimson. His tone and emotionless expression reminded her a little of Byakuya, only evil. He didn't seem to notice his wrists and chest were burned. He drew the Hollow's white zanpakto and pointed it at the trio. Rukia stifled a sob. She could no longer see any trace of her friend in the creature before her. Zangetsu drew his blade stepped in front of her.

"Rukia," he said quietly, "get away from here. I was wrong to ask you to come. Leave while you still can."  
"No," Rukia said, "it's okay. I'll fight with you, Zangetsu. Ichigo is my friend. He's helped me too many times for me not to return the favour."

Zangetsu turned his head and nodded to her. "Let's get this over with."

Hichigo felt disappointed as he watched the goodbyes. He'd hoped the Shinigami would have left so he wouldn't have had to kill her. He sighed quietly. The Zanpakto spirit pointed his sword at him sorrowfully.

"I'm sorry about this, Ichigo. BANKAI!" Zangetsu shouted. A blue light flickered around him and his sword changed to a familiar thin blade. Hichigo sighed in disappointment as he parried the sword that was aimed for his heart. Zangetsu jumped back, then flash-stepped behind him, driving his sword downwards, aiming for the small of his back. The white blade darted backwards and sent the sword away. Zangetsu snarled in frustration. Hichigo turned, true sorrow in his eyes, and began to fight.

The clashing blades sent sparks flying around the pair like little insects. Hichigo's face was twisted in a feral snarl, but his eyes were still brimming with sorrow. Zangetsu could sense a deep desire for the battle to end coming from his sword. No, not to end. It wasn't the desire to _end_ the fight; it was the desire to _lose_. With a start, Zangetsu realised that Hichigo didn't want to fight. Neither of them wanted to fight. The Hollow King was making them. A wave of hatred rolled over Zangetsu and he drove the sword away from his own and flash-stepped away. He appeared a few paces back, sword held out in front of him. Just because Hichigo didn't want to attack, didn't mean he wouldn't. He turned to look at the girls stood against the building.

"GAURDIAN!" he shouted, "TELL HER WHAT TO DO!"

The little girl's eyes widened, but she nodded, taking Rukia's hand and flash-stepped away. Zangetsu turned to the boy in front of him.

"Don't worry Ichigo, Hollow, we'll help you." he said softly.

The mergling doubled over, crimson eyes softening. He looked up at the spirit. "Th-thank you." he choked, trying to smile. Then he shuddered violently and the crimson light in his eyes brightened. The Hollow King was redoubling his attempts. Zangetsu tightened his grip on his sword, readying himself for the attack.

The Guardian pulled on Rukia's hand again.

"Hurry! Hurry!" she shouted, tugging her forward. Rukia followed her, trying to keep up with the girl's rapid pace. They ran along the sides of half-destroyed buildings, struggling not to slip on the rain-slick brickwork. Suddenly, the Guardian jumped off the edge of the building. Rukia shrieked in alarm. She ran to the edge and watched, horrified, as the girl plummeted towards the darkness below. The girl fell for a while, before disappearing from sight. Just as she was about to scream for the Guardian, a faint voice reached her ears.

"Rukia, jump!"

Rukia's eyes widened. Jump? Was she crazy? Breathing heavily, Rukia stepped back a few paces, before sprinting forward. She felt the ground disappear from underneath her and, with a panicked gasp, she hurtled downwards. Evidently, she _was _crazy.

Zangetsu cursed quietly as the mergling hit his sword away _again_. It was getting ridiculous now. How could he keep deflecting his attacks? Zangetsu was starting to worry. If Hichigo could keep blocking him this easily, things weren't looking good for him. A red light lit up the space around them.

_CERO!_

Just as Hichigo fired, Zangetsu released a getsuga tenshou. The two attacks collided in a bright, brief flash of light. Suddenly, Hichigo darted forward and slashed at him twice. Zangetsu felt the sword tear through his clothes and reach the skin. Cursing not so quietly, he flash-stepped away, Hichigo in pursuit.

The buildings seemed endless to Rukia. She'd been falling for a while now and the scenery hadn't changed. Still endless black buildings and raindrops. It was strange… she really ought to have caught up with the Guardian by now. With a jolt, Rukia realised the girl had _still been falling _when she'd shouted for her. Rukia twisted herself around and stared at the darkness underneath her. Where was she going?

Zangetsu sat down heavily on yet another window ledge. He groaned as he examined himself. He'd just got away from the mergling, and it had probably prolonged his existence for a while longer. He had another gash on his chest that was bleeding quite badly and he also had a cut on his face, too. He dragged a sore hand over his face to stop the blood going in his eyes. Suddenly, he coughed, violently. Blood splattered his hand. _That probably isn't a good sign, _Zangetsu thought darkly, _those girls need to get it done quickly. _

"Get what done quickly?" asked a voice close to his ear. Startled, Zangetsu slashed the wall behind him. It lodged in the wall, striking nothing.

"Tut tut, Zangetsu. Don't let your temper get the better of you." said the voice again. A form shimmered into existence in front of him. The Hollow King stood, slight smirk on his face, perfectly at ease despite the hostility Zangetsu had displayed.

"So, what do you need the ladies to do?"

"None of your business." Zangetsu growled.

"Actually, it is. If you plan on attacking my soldier, then technically you're attacking _my _property. And if you're attacking something that belongs to _me_, then it **is** _my _business. No?" he said, still smirking, like it was nothing more than a conversation on the weather, which, by the way, was still torrential rain. He smiled at Zangetsu's murderous expression.

"Where the HELL did you get this 'my property' stuff from? Ichigo belongs to _no-one_, least of all the likes of you." Zangetsu spat venomously.

"Just because _you_ failed to protect hi-"

The last bit of the sentence was cut off by Zangetsu grabbing the pale King's throat. He watched with some satisfaction as the Hollow King struggled for breath, slowly turning purple. Finally, he loosened his fingers a little. The Hollow King coughed slightly, before smirking again.

"Touched a nerve did I?" he said lightly. "Well, it was only to be expected really. You're no match to me."

Zangetsu's eyes narrowed. What kind of idiot taunted the person who had his fingers around their throat? Unless… He spun around, just in time to feel a sword imbed itself in his torso.

Unless he had backup…

Eyes wide, he released the Hollow King and staggered back. Hichigo helped the Hollow King to his feet, not looking at the sword spirit. The Hollow King brushed down his clothes, huffing in displeasure. He watched as Zangetsu sank to his knees, clutching the hilt of the zanpakto that was sticking out of him. He nodded at Hichigo, who crossed over to the spirit and grabbed the hilt. Zangetsu gasped as he pulled the blade out of him.

"Now," said the Hollow King brusquely, "what do you want the ladies to do?"

Rukia was bored. Very bored. The Guardian hadn't shouted back to her for a while and she couldn't see an end to the buildings.

_Just how big is Ichigo's spiritual pressure if his inner world is endless? _she wondered.

"It's huge, isn't it?" said a voice next to her ear. Surprised, Rukia looked over. Sode no Shirayuki was falling next to her, white hair billowing out of her face, a smile on her lips. She seemed to be enjoying the fall.  
"Yes, huge." Rukia said, sounding stunned. "How are you here?"

"Silly girl, I go wherever you go."

"Oh."

Rukia's eyes widened. Shirayuki didn't sound surprised at the size of Ichigo's inner world. "Just how often do you come here, Shirayuki?"  
Shirayuki raised a delicate eyebrow. "What makes you think that I come here often?"  
"You do, don't you?" Rukia said, smiling craftily.

"Nonsense," Shirayuki sniffed, "I have visited, yes. I also used to _live_ here once upon a time, Rukia, if you haven't forgotten."

"You lived here?" Rukia said, sounding slightly confused.

"Yes," she said coldly, "when I used to be a part of Kurosaki's power. Remember?"

"Yes. How could I forget?"

"It is beyond me."

There was silence for a while. Finally, Rukia had to ask.

"How often do you visit?"

"Not very often."

"How often?"

Shirayuki looked at her. "Once every few weeks, why?"  
"Was Zangetsu around when you lived here before?"

"Yes, but he was… different." Shirayuki said, sounding irritated.

"Different how?"  
"HE WASN'T SOLID!" Shirayuki snapped.

Rukia smiled craftily again. "So you visit now that he IS solid, then?"

"Yes, why?"  
"Oh nothing." Rukia said sweetly, giggling to herself. Shirayuki looked confused.

"What's so funny?" she asked, icily.

Rukia didn't answer.

"Rukia?"

No response.

"Rukia!"  
Finally it all became too much for the Shinigami. She burst out laughing. Shirayuki's expression darkened.  
Between gales of laughter, Rukia managed to speak.

"Why would it matter if he was solid or not?"

"It's a lot easier to talk to someone when they're not transparent, Rukia."

"But we see souls all the time. _They're _transparent and you don't have a problem talking to _them_!"

"So?"

"So why would it matter if he was transparent? It's NOT because he's easier to talk to!"

Shirayuki blushed slightly. "Drop it Rukia."

Rukia's eyes lit up. "But-"

"JUST DROP IT!"

Rukia smiled at her zanpakto's defensiveness. "Do you like his company Shirayuki?"  
Shirayuki's eyes narrowed. "It's better than present company, it has to be said."

"So you DO like his company, then."

"So what if I do?"  
"Do you like HIM, Shirayuki?"

Shirayuki didn't reply.

"Shirayuki?"  
"Look down Rukia." she said quietly, sounding serious.

Rukia looked down. A white pinprick was just visible below her. Light! She was nearly there! Wherever there was…


	14. Chapter 14

Thanks for your patience guys. The "Super [Useless] Hub" and my stupid damaged wrist have let me down again.

Don't own Bleach, just my OC's. Also, I apologise for any OOC-ness in this fanfic. It's regrettable, but I haven't seen all of Bleach.

Rukia felt anticipation grip her like a fever as she hurtled towards the ever expanding light below her. Shirayuki noticed her pulse quicken and breathed a sigh of relief, thankful Rukia had stopped questioning her about how she felt about Zangetsu. She barely knew herself. Onwards an onwards the light came until it became too bright to look at. The women closed their eyes. The light felt almost alive. It seemed to wrap itself around them, drawing them in like a curious octopus might pull its prey closer to examine it. Rukia gasped as the light cocooned them, bright and strangely sharp. It made her feel like she was stood on the top of a cliff, with gale force winds trying to push her off. She heard Shirayuki shout her, but the words were lost to her ears. Suddenly, she stopped moving. The light had snatched her out of the descent. Shirayuki was having similar problems. The light didn't seem to know what she was. It had her grabbed tightly around the waist and seemed to be trying to pull her apart.

"S-Stop it!" Rukia shouted, fearing for her zanpakto's safety.

The light tendrils stopped instantly. They slid together to form a floor and released the two women.  
"I'm sorry about that!" squeaked a voice next to Rukia's elbow. Looking down, Rukia saw the Guardian. Her hair was messy, her dress tattered. She had tears in her eyes.

"Oh, it's okay!" Rukia said, crouching down to hug her. Shirayuki walked over and touched her shoulder.

"Are you the Guardian?" she asked gently.

"Yes," she snivelled miserably, "are you Rukia's zanpakto?"  
"Yes, Sode No Shirayuki at your service."

"Good. I could use your help, or rather Zangetsu could." the Guardian said quickly, "His existence depends on it."  
Shirayuki's eyes widened as panic rushed through her. She felt like someone had frozen _her_, for a change.

"What's happened?" she said, trying to keep the horror out of her voice.

"He cornered the Hollow King and he forgot to watch his back and—and-" the little girl dissolved into tears. Shirayuki felt sick to her core.

"What happened?" she asked, dreading the answer.

The girl took a deep breath and wiped her face. "Hichigo snuck up behind him and- and stabbed him." she said quickly, like she was wishing she'd never say it again.  
Shirayuki grabbed her arm. "Can you send me there?"  
She nodded, and light converged around Shirayuki.  
"Be careful, Rukia." she called, looking at her mistress, trying to convey her confidence in her through her eyes.

"You too, Shirayuki. Do not underestimate either of them." Rukia said, eyes flashing.

"When you find Zangetsu, get away and shout: 'Candy!' I'll bring you back here."

Shirayuki raised an eyebrow. She only had time to say "Candy? Seriously?" before she faded away.

"Now Rukia," the Guardian said, smiling through her tears, "I'll teach you what you need to know."

"Need to know about what?" Rukia asked, frowning. No-one had told her _why_ she had been dragged down into the void they were sat in.

"You need to know about separating merged souls! Duh!" the Guardian sniffed, "It's really quite obvious!"

Rukia flushed and nodded. It _was_ obvious.

"So… What do I need to know?"  
"Well, Rukia. Let's start with what merging actually is. Merging is when two souls are joined together either willingly or unwillingly. It requires a great deal of power, so usually one soul supplies the power to sustain the merge and the other one provides the power to do special abilities. The power can also be provided by both souls supplying power for merging as well as special abilities, but this is more often the case with forced merges. Any questions so far?"  
"Not really…" Rukia said, wondering how she could _have _any questions. The Guardian was explaining everything really simply.

"Okay then. Now in _Hichigo's _case, it's a forced merge. Neither of them want to be fused and both want to be separate. Now, this is the problem. Because the nasty Hollow King is _forcing_ their souls together, they can't separate on their own. Now that's where we come in! You may have noticed my new sword!" she said, indicating to the sheath on her lap. It was black and edged in red, with a golden hilt shaped like wings.

"Yeah, I noticed earlier. What about it?"  
"I put Ichi-kun's power reserves into it!" she said, smiling cutely.

Rukia's jaw dropped. "YOU WHAT? DO YOU **KNOW **HOW UNSTABLE THAT IS? That's dangerous!"

"Not really. Ichi-kun's reserve is HUGE and Ichigo, meanie Hollow and…and Zan-Zan all draw from it." she snivelled the last name and rubbed her eyes. Rukia put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. The guardian sniffed before continuing.

"So if the Hollow king meanie is drawing from it as well, it's perfectly alright for me to fuse the reserves into a sword."  
Rukia nodded. "So…why did you do that?"  
The Guardian stared at her. "Are you seriously asking me that? I did that so that we can free Hichigo!"

Shirayuki materialized on the ruin of a once proud skyscraper. She shivered as she took in the desolation. Buildings lay on fire on in ruins, torrential rain still poured, making the remaining surfaces slippery. She looked around, trying to find a fight. Zangetsu was _bound _to be fighting. Something warm was seeping onto her left foot. She looked down and shrieked. Crimson liquid was staining her white shoe. Her heart stopped, before accelerating faster than any flash-step. It was_ blood_. Her eyes roamed the building, looking for the source. A small trail of blood was snaking along the edge of the building, leading into a dark dead-end. A quiet moan met her ears. Without hesitation, Shirayuki followed it, on guard for any signs of attack.

She stepped into the darkness, nerves stretched thin, heart racing. Another moan, louder this time, greeted her. She heard someone move in front of her.

"Who's there?" she barked.

"Sh-Shirayuki?" someone coughed weakly. "What're you doing here?"  
"Zangetsu?" she said, relief tingeing her voice, "I'm on rescue duty. Come forward into the light."

She heard a mirthless laugh. "I would, but I can't move."

Shirayuki's eyes widened. "Where are you? I'll get you out of here."

"In front of you. I'll tell you when to stop."

She walked forwards a couple of paces until Zangetsu told her to stop. She knelt down and extended her hands, palms outwards, reaching forward. She encountered skin, wet and hot. She heard Zangetsu hiss in pain.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay. That's just my chest."

Shirayuki moved her hands to his shoulders, pulling his arms around her shoulders. Slowly, gently, she stood up, pulling Zangetsu up with her. He groaned as she helped him up. Turning around, she slowly walked out of the shadowy dead-end. Straight into the trap she'd been so wary of.


	15. Chapter 15

Hi! Sorry I haven't updated in ages, I kind of lost my memory stick with all my work on it and had to start from scratch on this chapter.

The white blade flashed in the rain as it swung towards her throat. Shirayuki gasped and stumbled backwards. Zangetsu hissed angrily. There, blocking their path was Hichigo and the Hollow King. The Hollow King smiled slightly.

"My, my Zangetsu, you're in a right state! Relying on a woman to save you is not very heroic.

Shirayuki's eyes narrowed and she drew her sword.

"What's so bad about a woman saving someone, can I ask?" she growled.

"Well, normally our friend here likes to be a hero, and women aren't normally heroes."

Zangetsu stared at him. "You really have no fear, don't you?"

"What? No, why?"

"You just implied that women are weaker than men in front of Shirayuki. That takes some bravery."

"Why?"  
"Well, let's put it this way," Zangetsu coughed, smiling, "I'm not cleaning up the mess."

"Tsugi no mai, HAKURAN!" Shirayuki shouted.

Four pillars of ice shot out of the blade, striking the Hollow King and Hichigo squarely in the chest.

"Take that, chauvinist!" Shirayuki muttered. Tightening her grip on Zangetsu, she flash-stepped away before they had a chance to get up.

"To do _what_ now?" Rukia asked in disbelief, eyeing the girl in front of her.

"To free Hichigo! Why else would I have done this?" she said, smiling at Rukia's incredulity.

"How could that sword do that? I thought only the Hollow king could break the merge!"

"Nope!" said the Guardian, smiling widely, "He_ could_ break it if he wanted to, but he doesn't want to, so WE have to do something! You break a merge by releasing a lot of spiritual pressure all at once. So-"

"So if you release all the energy in that sword, Ichigo and his Hollow should become two separate beings again!" Rukia finished, smiling as hope started to blossom within her. Then her brow furrowed.

"There's just one problem with that, Guardian. How do we release the energy?"  
"Oh, that's simple, but not nice. I can't do it. You can, though!" she said, frowning slightly.

"What do I need to do?"

The Guardian looked at her mournfully. It made Rukia's stomach tighten in anxiety.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really."  
"Then, what do I need to do?"

"You need to stab Hichigo in the heart."

Shirayuki didn't stop flash-stepping until her strength failed her. Breathing heavily, she gently lowered Zangetsu onto the building beneath her. She sat down next to him and listened to his strained breathing. It rattled horribly in his chest. To say she was worried would be a huge understatement. Zangetsu looked over at her and sighed.

"You don't need to look so grim, Shirayuki. I'm not going to die _just _yet."

Shirayuki didn't respond. Her silence spoke for her. Zangetsu sighed again.

"I'm not, you know. I've had worse injuries."

"How did this happen?" Shirayuki said, "How did they hurt you so badly?"  
Zangetsu closed his eyes. "I tried to get away from fighting Hichigo, but the Hollow king distracted me and Hichigo got in close. I'm sorry."

Shirayuki stared at him. "_You're _sorry? I'M sorry! If I'd got here sooner, you wouldn't be half so wounded!"

Zangetsu opened his eyes again and looked at Shirayuki. Her eyes were full of tears. Wordlessly, Zangetsu put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't think like that Shirayuki," he said quietly, "I shouldn't have been so easily distracted."

Shirayuki touched the hand on her shoulder and shook her head. "You always blame yourself, Zangetsu. If you won't accept an apology, then you'll have to just accept being saved by a woman, if you can!"

Zangetsu smiled tightly. "The Hollow King was a fool to say that. I think I can handle being saved by a woman, especially one like you Shirayuki."

Shirayuki blushed.

"Isn't this touching?" a voice said, alive with evil glee.

Shirayuki's head snapped around. There, standing behind her, were Hichigo and the Hollow King. Ice was still clinging to their clothes and hair, but otherwise they looked unharmed. She jumped to her feet and pointed her sword at them. Smiling evilly, the Hollow King flared his spiritual pressure and she sank to the ground in a gasp of pain. She heard Zangetsu call her name, but it sounded far away. Something stabbed her shoulder. She heard the Hollow King laugh as the blood soaked into her white kimono. She looked up and saw Hichigo's glowing red eyes and, more importantly, the white blade pointing at her throat.

"Looks like you're finished, ice woman!" cackled the Hollow King.

Shirayuki glared at him defiantly and twisted her mouth into a smile.

"Not yet I'm not," she growled, "CANDY!"

oHollHHIhlinewhui


	16. Chapter 16

Hiya people! Thanks so much for sticking with this story for so long! The reviews and support have been great! I know this has been a bit haphazard posting-wise, but I'm doing my best. As per usual, Bleach is NOT mine.

Rukia went white and stared at the little girl. "You want me to do _what_?"

"I told you it wasn't very nice! And don't look at me like that! I'm not evil."

"You want me to STAB my friend!"  
"TO SAVE HIM! Stabbing him with his own power reserves won't kill him! It won't even hurt him! All it will do is force Hichigo to become two separate souls again! Oh, and it might give meanie Hollow King a _huge_ headache, too! So it's all good!"

Rukia considered this for a minute and smiled slowly. This plan seemed to be plausible. Suddenly, the Guardian shuddered. Her eyes glowed white and Rukia heard the faint voice of Shirayuki screaming about candy. The Guardian snapped her fingers and whispered something under her breath. White light spun from her fingers and the vague, pale outlines of two figures started to appear. The Guardian's brow furrowed and she was starting to breath heavily. The brightness increased and Rukia was forced to shield her eyes. Slowly, colour surged into the two figures and Rukia gasped. It was Shirayuki and Zangetsu! But something was wrong. Zangetsu's face was deathly pale, which was a stark contrast to the crimson blood that covered him. Shirayuki was gasping and she had a nasty cut on her shoulder. The Guardian snapped her fingers again and flopped down onto the ground, panting heavily. Shirayuki stood and walked over to the child.

"Thank...you. Thank you, Guardian." she whispered, gratitude ringing deep in her words, "Thank you."

Zangetsu groaned quietly. Rukia ran over and knelt beside him. He was covered in sword wounds, all of them deep and ugly. Rukia extended her hand and breathed out. Light shone from her fingertips as she began to use healing Kido. Shirayuki walked over to her mistress and knelt beside her.

"What happened, Shirayuki?" Rukia asked quietly, worry clouding her face, "How did this happen?"  
"Zangetsu tried to get away from Hichigo, but got distracted by the Hollow King. This allowed Hichigo to attack him from behind. I found him in a deserted dead-end; in the state he's in now. As I got him out of there, I was ambushed by the Hollow King and Hichigo. They've gotten stronger, Rukia. I didn't even sense them until the sword was pointing at me. I don't know _how_ we will beat them." Shirayuki whispered, hoarsely.

Rukia looked at her Zanpakto and placed a hand on her arm. "We'll do it. Failure isn't an option." Shirayuki smiled wearily and nodded. "I have faith in you Rukia. If anyone can help Ichigo, it's you."

The Guardian coughed quietly from behind them.  
"Don't let her see Zangetsu, Shirayuki. The poor girl will have a fit." Rukia said, turning back to her work.

"Too late." Shirayuki muttered.

Rukia looked behind her. The Guardian was stood there, eyes wide and tearful.

"Zan-Zan!" she whispered, horrified, clapping her hands to her mouth. Shirayuki caught her as her legs gave out. The little girl clutched her kimono and started to cry. Shirayuki put a hand on her back and held her close, like a mother would. A knot formed in Rukia's stomach as she watched.

_Ichigo would NEVER do this. Hichigo must be stopped, no matter what._

New resolve coursed through Rukia. She focused all her energy into the Kido. There was a bright flash and Zangetsu coughed. The Guardian's eyes widened. His severe wounds were partially closed and the bleeding had stopped. She smiled hugely and hugged Shirayuki. Then, she got up and ran over to Rukia. She tackled her in a flying hug, crying again.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthan kyou!" she sobbed happily.

"Guardian, can you look after Shirayuki and Zangetsu here?" Rukia asked, quietly.

"Yes Rukia."

"Then give me that sword. I'm going to stop Hichigo."

The Guardian stared at her for a minute, before nodding slightly. She took the sheath from off her back and gave it to her. Rukia took it and put it around her back. The Guardian snapped her fingers again and a disc of light formed under Rukia.

"This will take you to the top of this abyss. Be careful, Rukia. We won't be there to help you." The Guardian warned.

"I understand." Rukia stated simply.

She nodded at Shirayuki and the Guardian and the disc started to rise. Suddenly, it jerked under her and started to rise again, much, _much_ faster. Rukia shrieked.

Shirayuki shook her head, smiling slightly.

"Good luck, Rukia. You'll need it."

Rukia clung to the edge of the disc for dear life. She'd slipped over as the speed increased. It reminded of the time Ichigo had taken her to the theme park with some of their friends. He'd conned her into going on the roller coasters there, and the sensation was similar. Never would she be afraid of them again. She closed her eyes, hoping this would stop the motion sickness. It didn't. Suddenly, it jerked to a stop. Her eyes snapped open as she took in the ruined skyscrapers. She staggered off the disc and collapsed. It dissipated as she reached solid building. Her head whirled and she saw two figures approach her.

"Could someone stop the building, please?" she groaned, "I'd like to get off!"

"My, my Miss Kuchiki! You're an interesting shade of green!" leered one of the spinning figures.

Silently, Rukia employed one of Ichigo's cusses. It was the Hollow King! That could only mean the other figure was Hichigo. Sure enough, Hichigo yanked her up onto her feet, grabbing her arms so she didn't collapse. The Hollow King laughed as he walked over to her. Rukia let her arm sink lower in Hichigo's grasp, towards Sode no Shirayuki's hilt. The Hollow King didn't notice.

"Now, what do we have here?" he asked venomously, as he eyed the new sword hilt on her back. He was only centimetres away, his green eyes fixed intently on the weapon.

_That's right, _Rukia thought, _Focus on the insanely powerful new weapon._ Grinning wickedly, he reached for its hilt...

And gasped. Blood sprayed Rukia's face and her lips twisted into a triumphant smile. With a grunt she kicked him away from her and twisted herself out of Hichigo's grip. She flash-stepped a little way off and watched Hichigo's surprised face. The Hollow King collapsed, Shirayuki's hilt flashing in the rain.

"Idiot." Rukia scoffed, "That's what you get for focussing only on the most powerful weapon in my arsenal!"

The Hollow King laughed. "Well done, Kuchiki! But now, you face mine! Hichigo, ATTACK!" he screeched.

Hichigo stepped over the Hollow King and levelled the white Zangetsu at her. It wasn't even in Bankai yet. Rukia drew the Guardian's blade and pointed it at her friend.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo." she whispered.


	17. Chapter 17

Hiya! I've got a good run going on 'cause I'm not that fussed about the watching the Olympics. It's all you ever hear about here in Britain and it has been like that for _years_! It's kind of annoying after a while. So long as we do well, I'm content. This chapter was inspired by the song Glory by Hollywood Undead. Blame my friend Beth for that. Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo, for those of you who still believe I need to write this.

Hichigo looked mournfully at the woman in front of him. Her face seemed familiar, but he didn't know where he'd seen her before.  
"I'm sorry Ichigo." he heard her whisper, before she vanished. Almost in slow motion, he saw her flash-step to his chest, sword raised. Lazily, he knocked the point away and sonidoed behind her. He grabbed her shuhkisho and sonidoed away from his injured King. He heard her gasp and try to get him with her blade. His brow furrowed as he heard a low humming come from it. Was it charged with some strange energy? It felt familiar to him. Very familiar. She twisted in his grip, forcing him to release her. He hissed and span around pointing his fingers towards her, a cero starting to spin. Her violet eyes widened, and then narrowed. She vanished and appeared behind him. He sighed tiredly and turned, knocking her sword away again and firing the cero a centimetre from her head. She stared at him.

"It's not going to work. You move too slowly and your attacks are too obvious. Please, if you value your life or the people who love you, just leave. If you refuse, you will either die by my hand or my King's. I'm sorry." he said, trying to be persuasive, "I won't pursue you if you if you leave now."

Her eyes misted with tears. "I can't leave." she whispered.

"Then prepare to die."

"I'm not going to die!"

"If you think like that, you're a fool. You will not beat me by determination alone."

"It works for Ichigo. Why shouldn't it work for me?" she asked through gritted teeth.

Hichigo shook his head. "I can't reason with you."  
The woman pointed her blade again. Hichigo vanished again, but she was ready. With more speed than he'd anticipated, she turned and parried his blade, knocking it to her left. She jumped backwards.

"HADOU NO YON: BYAKURAI!" she screamed, white light shooting from her outstretched palm. It struck Hichigo in the chest. His eyes widened as he flew backwards, surprised by her strength. The sword in her hand was coiling in white light, too. Some of it flowed into her, which he presumed was giving her strength. Suddenly, she raised the blade above her head and screamed something he never imagined.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

Hichigo sonidoed away, but he wasn't fast enough. The curving attack struck him in his chest. Eyes wide, he was thrown back again.

Rukia stared at the sword in her hand. Had she just... used Getsuga Tenshou? She heard a growl and saw Hichigo extracting himself from the hole he'd made in the building. Eyes flashing crimson, he attacked her in an explosive burst of strength.

"I don't know how you can use getsuga tenshou," he spat, "but you just signed your death warrant!"

He leapt back, and then took up a stance that was _very_ familiar to Rukia. One arm outstretched, one arm supporting.

"BANKAI!"

"Oh hell!" Rukia whimpered, taking a step back as Hichigo was surrounded with his white and black spiritual pressure, laughing crazily.

_Wait a minute, _Rukia thought, _can I do that?_

Almost as though she'd practiced this earlier, she copied his stance. A huge rush of power ran through her and she saw a crazy amount of power dance around her. It engulfed her.

"BANKAI!"

Hichigo watched, stunned, as she copied his bankai. How was she doing this?!

Rukia emerged from the light. She stared at the blade in her hand. It was a golden tensa zangetsu, flickering with Ichigo's power. She felt a confident smile light up her face and she looked at Hichigo.

"What were you saying about a death warrant?" she asked sweetly.

Hichigo narrowed his eyes, vanishing. But Rukia was expecting this. She turned with a speed Byakuya could only dream of and parried. Snarling, Hichigo vanished and attacked again. Rukia vanished as well, their blades meeting again and again. Hichigo's attacks had changed from lazy and certain, to desperate and wild. Rukia was easily keeping up with them. He tried to leave, but she was there, still smiling. She vanished again, appearing behind him. He whirled around, only just parrying in time. Was she getting faster? Sure enough, she knocked his legs from under him and kicked his sword away.  
"You don't understand do you?" Rukia said, quietly.

"No. No, I don't!" he snarled, angrily, "How are you doing this?"

"I'll explain. This sword is the remainder of your power reserves. That should make it equal to you."  
"So THAT'S how you can use my attacks!"

Rukia nodded.

"But how can you beat me if we're equal?"  
"We're not. Unless you've forgotten, I have my own power too. So, I'm sorry. You lose!"

So saying, she plunged the sword downwards and into his chest.

Hichigo's eyes widened and he gasped. Rukia released its hilt and jumped back. The sword glowed like lava, then dissolved into pure power. Rukia gasped as the power she'd borrowed left her. She felt her legs give out as fatigue washed through her. She sank to her knees and watched as the power collected around the mergling. Hichigo screamed. Rukia closed her eyes as the light increased brightness. She felt power rush over her, cracking her lips. Suddenly, the light died abruptly. Startled, Rukia opened her eyes. Two people were lying on the floor where Hichigo had been. One was ginger, tall and stong and the other was like a negative photograph of him. The orange-haired one sat up, only to be knocked back down by a flying hug. Laughing shakily, he hugged her back, sitting back up.

"Thank you, Rukia!" he laughed happily, "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome Ichigo!" she smiled, burrowing her face into her uniform. Beside them, the Hollow groaned.

Rukia smiled, ecstatically. She had her best friend and his inner demon back!


	18. Chapter 18

Hi everyone! Just a heads up to let you know that I will sort out my incorrect Japanese in the first few chapters as soon as I finish the story. Thanks for the people who pointed out that onee-san is a FEMALE sibling, not male like I thought. Sorry Ichigo and Byakuya fans .

Disclaimer: I OWN BLEACH...not.

Ichigo heard his Hollow groan again. The separation had been rough for both of them, but his Hollow had taken the brunt of it, because he was more dominant in the merge. Ichigo sighed. It was his own fault, stupid idiot. Rukia was still clinging to his shuhkashou, sobbing happily. He smiled. It was SO good to be free again! The Hollow sat up, rubbing his temples.

"You feeling better now?" Ichigo asked, watching him with something akin to concern on his face.

His Hollow narrowed his eyes. "Of _course_, King! There's _no way_ I feel like I was hit by a bus full of elephants! Everything's just peachy!" he growled, angrily.

"There's no need to be snarky!"

"THEN USE YOUR BRAIN! If it's taken me so damn long to sit up," he spat, "then obviously I'm in pain!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at his white counterpart and shook his head. Then he looked down at Rukia, who was _still_ clinging to him.

"You gonna let me breathe at some point today, Rukia?" he asked, playfully.

Rukia looked up at his face and frowned. "No, why?"

He smiled. "Fine by me."

That earned him a light punch on the arm, but he could hear her laughing into his chest. Suddenly, a warning chill ran down his spine. Fast as thought, he was on his feet, blocking the sword that had been aimed at his back. Rukia shrieked, clinging to him in shock at the sudden movements. The Hollow jumped to his feet, cursing quietly.

It was the Hollow King.

He was furious. His green eyes were turning red with power, his mask wounds were gone. He was using Sode No Shirayuki to attack him. Carefully, Ichigo set Rukia on her feet and looked at the weapon in his own hands. It was his Hollow's zanpakto. It felt wrong in his hand, like someone had taken his Zangetsu and reversed it, like a mirror image. Speaking of Zangetsu, where _was _his zanpakto? He looked around for it, but he couldn't see it. His brow furrowed. That was odd. The Hollow King snarled and pushed the blade away. He attacked again, blows hitting down on him like rain. Rukia put her hand out, palm facing forward and shouted:

"Binding spell no. 1: SAI!"

With a crack, the Hollow King's arms snapped behind him. Shirayuki clattered to the floor. Rukia darted forward, retrieving her sword.

"How DARE you use my zanpakto?!" she shouted, fury and indignation sparkling in her amethyst eyes, "What gives you the right?"

"Well," the Hollow King sneered, "if you _insist_ on burying it in my chest, you can't expect me to not take advantage of that!"

Rukia glowered at him. Panting with exertion, the Hollow King snapped the Kido and stood in front of them. Ichigo gripped the white Zangetsu, disliking the way it felt in his hands. It didn't feel _right_! He wasn't happy with fighting with the Hollow's sword; he needed to find _his_ Zangetsu as soon as possible! The Hollow King attacked, knocking Rukia off her feet. He brought his arm down like a blade towards her unprotected stomach, but was intercepted by Ichigo.

"Oi! Hollow!" he shouted, looking around for his doppelganger, "Where are you?"

"BACK HERE, RETARD!" the Hollow yelled, obviously annoyed.

Ichigo looked around, but saw no one. He heard and angry hiss behind him.  
"Are you _blind_?!" someone he couldn't see growled into his ear.

"NO! I just can't see you!" Ichigo growled, annoyed. The Hollow King smiled and forced Ichigo's borrowed blade away and shoved him back. Ichigo was sent sprawling into a wall. He saw a cero materialize behind the Hollow King. The Hollow King shook his head wearily.

"I'm sick of this pretence." he groaned, clicking his fingers. Ichigo heard his Hollow cuss loudly. Suddenly, he shimmered into existence behind the Hollow King, wrapped in glowing red chains. The Hollow King smiled again.

"I'm sorry for the pretence, Ichigo, but I had to gain entrance to your head in some way. Your Hollow was the most... _persuasive_ way to get in." he said, drawing a sword that Ichigo hadn't noticed before.

"Huh?" Ichigo said, sitting up with confusion written across his face. The Hollow King smiled again and put the blade out in front of his face.

"Dispel, Masquerade!" the Hollow King shouted, thrusting the sword into the ground. Red light spilled out and shrouded him. It glowed brightly and Ichigo heard a sound like glass shattering. The light died around him and Ichigo stared. He blinked, rubbed his eyes and looked again.

There, standing in the evaporating red mist was a Shinigami.

Rukia groaned as she sat up and looked around. Ichigo was sitting in a crater staring at... a Shinigami?! Rukia blinked. Did she hit her head in that crash? She heard Ichigo's inner Hollow attempting to cuss him to death. So he _was_ real!

"Who are you?" Rukia barked, "What rank and what squad do you belong to? And what the HELL are you doing here?"

The Shinigami smiled. "I don't have a rank or a squad, or a name for that matter. I was created by the Shinigami Research Institute to solve the problems of people who have inner Hollows, like Ichigo here."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "Solve them how?"

"By destroying the Hollow, of course." he responded calmly.

The Hollow's eyes went huge, before laughing nervously. "No way! You're talking trash! There's no wa-"

"Observe my zanpakto, Masquerade. I never attacked anyone with it because it only has one strike, reserved for Hollows and Hollows alone. After that, it will turn into a normal katana, but I'm more than capable of defending myself against enemies."

"Then what was that illusion earlier then?" Ichigo snapped, sounding angry.

"That? That was Kido."

"KIDO? You used a Shikai incantation!"  
"No I didn't. I said Dispel to dispel the Kido and called my sword out of hiding in the same breath. That's not an incantation."

"Oh."

Rukia shook her head. "So you say you can deal with his Hollow?" she asked, eyeing him warily.

"Most definitely."

"Then why did you attack Zangetsu, Sode No Shirayuki and I? Why merge Ichigo and the Hollow?"

"I can see how the question would arise. I had to merge Ichigo and his Hollow to make sure you could separate them completely. Right now, Ichigo isn't even a Visored anymore. You can see how uncomfortable that zanpakto is in his hand. I attacked you and Zangetsu to ensure you could separate the two of them completely. Thank you for that. Now I can attend to other matters."

So saying, he turned around and marched towards the helpless Hollow. He was struggling against the chains, cussing and growling, trying to cero his way out of the chains. The Shinigami advanced, levelling his zanpakto at his head. The Hollow stopped struggling and looked at the sword point between his eyes. A strange expression crossed his face. His eyes were wide, mouth slightly open. He seemed paler, if it were possible. Rukia heard Ichigo gasp. She looked over and saw, to her surprise, a look of fury come overhis face. The Shinigami paced backwards, drawing his zanpakto back to his chest, bending his knees slightly. Blood red light shone around the blade. The Hollow stared.

"Dance and devour, Masquerade!"

The Hollow shut his eyes as the point was thrust towards his head. He heard it hiss as it came closer. Warm blood splattered his face, but...he felt nothing. No pain. He opened his eyes. He saw black. Black with red. Red blood. A sword point was there, an inch from his face. The point shimmered and vanished. He heard a hiss of pain and someone screaming. The black figure sunk to his knees. He saw orange hair. His eyes widened.

King.

King had been stabbed... for him?


	19. Chapter 19

Hi again! I'm just in awe of the amount of readers that are enjoying this work. It's nearing the end now and I'm gonna try to make the ending as epic as the beginning for you dedicated readers. My holiday got cut short because of the stupid torrential rain, which is kind of bad because we were camping. ¬_¬ I hate you rain! Once more, Bleach is not mine... How many times do we poor FanFiction authors have to write disclaimers? We own nothing other than our OC's for crying out loud.

The Hollow stared at the orange hair in front of him, transfixed. He could still hear the scream. King had put himself in front of the blade meant for _him_? Suddenly, a white blade darted backwards and slashed the chains. They released his arms, hissing backwards like snakes. They whirled around to strike again. Hands shoved him backwards and the red chains snaked around King's torso. He heard him groan in pain. The white blade clattered to the ground.

Ichigo coughed blood and looked at his Hollow. His black and yellow eyes were huge and round, mouth slightly agape. Totally surprised. Suddenly, the chains tightened and forced him to his knees, arms forced behind his back. The Hollow's head whipped around. There stood the Shinigami, scorch marks covering his face and arms. His katana was smoking and had a glowing crack down the centre.

Rukia ran to Ichigo and looked at the wound. Tears clouded her eyes and she wrapped her arms around him.

"Oh Ichigo," she whispered, "why?"

"Yes, that's a question we all want answered." the Shinigami growled, "Why would you take a blade for your Hollow?"  
Ichigo coughed a laugh. "I believe I've said this to another intruder we had in here. That Hollow is a part of me. Granted, he's psychotic and untrustworthy and annoying, but he still belongs here. I'd have died more than once if he hadn't stepped in to save his own skin. I owe him. And because I owe him, he can stay."

The Hollow stared at him, with something akin to concern in his eyes.

"Damn! How much blood have you _lost_?" he growled, "You've totally flipped, King!"

"Not really," Ichigo groaned, "he said his katana was only lethal to hollows and we're completely separated, so... no brainier."

"Idiot!" Rukia shouted, cuffing him around the head, "You could've died! You still could!"

"Yeah," Ichigo moaned, "I know."

He struggled to sit up and Rukia started to use her Kido. They heard him gasp before howling in agony.

"KING!"

"ICHIGO!"

The Shinigami shook his head. "My attack was a specifically designed negative Kido. Your Kido will only kill him faster."  
"AND YOU ONLY TELL US THIS NOW?" the Hollow screeched, fury twisting his face, "YOU-"

"Hollow!" Ichigo shouted, urgently.  
"Yeah, King?" the Hollow asked, spinning around.  
Ichigo kicked the white zanpakto at him. "I think someone has outstayed their welcome, don't you?"

Picking up the zanpakto, the Hollow nodded vigorously. "Oh hell, yeah!"  
The Shinigami shook his head. "This will be over shortly."

"You stole my line!"  
The Shinigami shook his head and pointed the (now useless) katana at the Hollow. The Hollow copied the pose, growling menacingly.

The Shinigami went to click his fingers, but the Hollow was faster. The Shinigami gasped as a blur of white slashed the nerves in his arm, making it useless. He reappeared next to his ear.

"Not this time;" he snarled, all humour gone in an instant, "You tricked me into letting you in here, had me give you power, got rid of Zangetsu, merged me, had me beat up Zangetsu, tried to _kill_ me ad now you've hurt King. I'm giving you _no chances_! BANKAI!"

His eyes widened, before jumping back and slashing the katana through the air, trying in vain to hit the many white blurs around him. Laughter reached his ears.

"What's the matter, Shinigami? Outclassed already?" the Hollow laughed, "You're nothing without your little finger snaps, aren't you?"

The Shinigami narrowed his eyes. "Don't get cocky, brat! I'm not even trying!"

Round about him, red spiritual pressure arose. The Hollow sneered and raised his own spiritual pressure, red and white dancing through the air. The Shinigami smiled, before flash-stepping closer, swiping his blade through the air. He heard a hiss and he felt the blade connect. The Hollow reappeared in front of him, a thin wound in his shoulder. Hatred blazed in his eyes. He attacked again, driving the Hollow back further. The Hollow jumped back further, extending his fingertips. A blood-red cero spun, crackling and hissing. He fired, the beam slicing through the air. The Shinigami smirked, dodging effortlessly. The Hollow hissed angrily. Suddenly, the Shinigami vanished. The Hollow looked around to no avail. Where was he? A sharp pain in his back told him the answer. He collapsed, gasping.

"I told you it would be over shortly. Don't get back up," the Shinigami said, shaking his head, "I'll make it quick."

The Hollow looked at him, his face twisting into a smirk. "You should talk to King more," he laughed, "I _never_ go down without a fight!"

He stood up, smiling crazily. "I've never done this in here and I don't know what it'll do, but I've always wanted to try it!"

The Hollow smiled and turned to Ichigo. "You remember that time Ulquiorra killed you?"  
A pale Ichigo nodded, too weak to speak.

"You got killed?!" Rukia screeched, holding him closer to her chest.

"Relax, it wasn't permanent!" the Hollow sneered, "I'll be damned if I die for his stupidity! I took over in that fight by doing something different."  
"You're not...going to-? Surely not!" Ichigo wheezed painfully.

"Don't talk, King! And yeah, I am!"

R side. him. The Shinigami narrowed his eyes.

"Stop speaking in riddles!" he growled, "Explain yourself!"  
"Fine! I'll demonstrate for you! Say your prayers, Shinigami, 'cause you aren't going to live much longer!"

So saying, the Hollow moved his hand to his face. Rukia's brow furrowed. It looked so similar to gesture Ichigo made when he used his Hollow mask. The Hollow completed the gesture, ripping his spiritual pressure over his face. There was a flash of black and Rukia felt a huge pressure wash over her. It electrified her very being. The whole world seemed to fill up with spiritual pressure. _Hollow_ spiritual pressure.

A white blade swished through the dust flying through the air, scattering it in every direction. Rukia gasped in fear as she saw the Hollow.

It's shuhkasho was white, with a flared coat, just like Bankai, but it had a black mask with two white stripes down the face on either side. Curved black horns glinted menacingly between waist-length white hair. She heard Ichigo sigh. It was obvious he'd seen this before. The Shinigami shook his head.

"Wow, you changed your appearance." he said, boredom seeping into his tone, "It won't make any difference."

Ichigo and his Hollow laughed together. Rukia looked at her friend in concern. She'd never seen or heard of him getting along this well with his Hollow. Maybe it had something to do with the merging...

"You fool!" Ichigo coughed, "Do you really believe that? There's no way that you can believe that!"

The Shinigami scowled as he turned his back on the Hollow to stare at the dying boy. "Well I do. It won't make any differ-"

He was cut off by an _enormous_ cero shooting past his head. His eyes went wide. He whirled around, only to see nothing. Something sharp and cold pierced his back. The world span and suddenly he was lying on the floor.

The Hollow removed the blade with a dissatisfied sigh. He lifted the mask off his face.

"What was all that big talk? If you couldn't even stop _that_, you clearly suck!" he grinned. The Shinigami didn't say anything, didn't move. The Hollow frowned. There was no way that killed him. No way. He jabbed his zanpakto into his ribs.

"Hey, Shinigami."

He jabbed him again.

"Shinigami?"

Another jab.

"Shiniga-"

"Would you knock it off?! That's really annoying!" the Shingami growled. He pushed himself up and slowly got to his feet. He dropped the katana and, before the Hollow could do anything, snapped his fingers together. Thick, red spiritual pressure gathered together and shot out, much like a cero. It struck the Hollow in the chest, but nothing happened. The Hollow raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? That it?" the Hollow whined, disappointedly, "I thought you were better than that! You _were_ better than that earlier!"

The Shinigami looked confused and scared, not comprehending what was wrong. That attack would have ripped him apart. It _should_ have ripped him apart! Why? WHY?

"You don't understand, do you?" said a youthful voice behind him, "Allow me to explain."


	20. Chapter 20

Hello, me again. I think you're gonna get another chapters out of this, so I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read this. I really appreciate the kind reviews and all the encouragement. It makes my day! Disclaimer: Bleach isn't mine.

The Shinigami whipped around. A young man robed in black was stood a few paces behind him, a woman in white at his side and an unconscious little girl in his arms.  
"Tensa!" the Hollow shouted, smiling, "You took your time!"

"My apologies, I hope nothing bad has happened. The poor little Guardian has only just finished healing us."

He saw the Hollow's expression darken and looked at him questioningly. He jerked his pale head to his right. Tensa's eyes widened as he saw the state Ichigo was in. "Fool," he murmured quietly.

The Shinigami fired another weak blast just past his head.

" You said you could explain, SO DO IT!" he barked, panic making his voice sharp.

Passing the Guardian to Shirayuki, Tensa walked forward.

"It's simple really," he said quietly, "you are drawing from Ichigo's power reserve, like the Hollow, our little Guardian and I, but it has sensed that you are an imposter and has cut short your power here. You _neglected_ to tell us you have no power of your own. Did you really think it would go undiscovered?"

The Shinigami narrowed his eyes. The Hollow snorted with laughter.

"So you're telling me this little upstart here is now powerless?" he laughed, mockingly.

Tensa nodded, disinterestedly. "Our intruder here is much like a leech, sucking power from his targets to power himself. You should have no problem beating him."  
The Hollow raised an eyebrow. "So you don't want to kick his butt for what he did to you?"

Tensa mimicked his expression. "Don't _you_ want to take him for what he did to Ichigo?"

The Hollow narrowed his eyes. "Oh yeah, I wanna kill him, I was just offering you the first shot."

Neither of them noticed the Shinigami click his fingers.

Ichigo gasped; eyes wide. Blood, which had been starting to clot, now ran like a river from his wound. He howled in pain. Rukia shrieked, unsure what was wrong. Then she noticed. Her eyes widened in horror. The stab wound was _becoming bigger_! She (out of habit) put her hand forward to perform Kido, but remembered in the last second what had happened last time she'd tried that. Instead, she wrapped her arms around her friend's shoulders, pleading silently for his pain to end. She furiously wiped at the tears clouding her vision, tearing her shuhkashou into makeshift bandages and trying in vain to stem the blood.

The Hollow and Tensa watched this with wide eyes. Tensa and Shirayuki ran over to try and help. The Hollow started to shake with anger.

"THAT'S IT!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, fury twisting his features, spiritual pressure splitting his mask and the ground under his feet, "YOU'RE DEAD!"

With a feral snarl, he lunged at the Shinigami, determined to tear him apart. The Shinigami stumbled back, way too slow. The Hollow brought his sword down, impaling his leg into the ground. The Shinigami grabbed its hilt to stop him falling. He tried to pull it out, but he couldn't. It was stuck in the floor. The Hollow regarded him, watching him struggle futilely. The Shinigami looked at him, searching for any sign of mercy in his face. He didn't find any. The Hollow sonidoed in front of him.

"Listen, you piece of scum," he growled, "I respect how close you came to overthrowing us. I respect how close you came to killing me. But I do NOT respect what you did to King. So you're not going to live much longer."

The Shinigami felt the ageless fear of death clutch his heart. The Hollow noticed, his expression lost a fraction of murderous rage. He contemplated what he was about to do. He was about to kill someone for the first time in his life. Something tightened in his gut.

No. HELL NO! He, the Hollow, was losing his nerve! WHAT?!

Then he looked over at Ichigo, dying in the rain, Tensa Zangetsu, Shirayuki and Rukia trying desperately to save him and his resolve was strengthened. But looking at the terrified face in front of him...

"Maybe I'm going soft like King," the Hollow snarled bitterly, "but I'll make it quick. I can't forgive you, but I ain't gonna torture you, either."

He saw a glimmer of thanks in his enemy's face. His eyes narrowed into slits.

He walked back a few paces, before turning around. He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Then he thrust his fingers forward, whispering "Cero!"

The Hollow poured all his spiritual pressure into the red light spinning at his fingertips. It continued to grow in size, in strength. Soon it was bigger than his head and growing. The Shinigami stared at the cero, waiting for death. In hindsight, maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. He smiled wryly. It was _much _too late for that thought.

Soon, everyone was staring at the cero that was forming, bar Ichigo. Rukia's eyes were huge. She had _never _seen or heard of a cero so big! It seemed that just like Ichigo, his Hollow was just as much as an anomaly among hollows as Ichigo was among Shinigami and humans.

The Hollow released the cero. The Shinigami only had time to blink before he was engulfed by the red power. He was dead before his body could register pain. But the cero didn't stop with him. It sliced through the buildings behind him. Every building _for a mile_. The Hollow sank down to the ground, exhausted. He felt something warm trickled down his hand. Looking down, he noticed the cero had torn his fingertips. There was a puff of white smoke and the damage was erased. The Hollow stared.

_High speed regeneration!_

He stood up shakily and ran over to his zanpakto was embedded. With a bit of effort, he pulled it out and ran towards where Ichigo was lying.

Tensa watched him, confusion in his eyes. Why did he look so hopeful? The Hollow collapsed on the ground beside his King, panting heavily. He mumbled something that they couldn't make out.

"Hollow?"Tensa Zangestu asked, confused, "What did you say?"

"I said... stand back. I've...had an idea!" he panted heavily, getting onto his knees.

Everyone, even Rukia, backed away. The Hollow rolled up the sleeve of his white shuhkashou and brought his sword's tip to his white skin.

Rukia's brow furrowed. "What on Earth are you doing?"

Smiling wearily, the Hollow cut his arm open, ignoring the shocked gasps behind him. Just as the white smoke appeared, he placed his hand on Ichigo's wound, focusing the healing downwards. Sure enough, the white smoke began to poof from Ichigo's wound. '_YES!_' he thought, '_it's working!'_ Within a matter of minutes, that awful wound had become a huge scar.

Rukia's eyes were as big as dinner plates. What had he just done?!

"High speed regeneration," the younger Zangetsu breathed, a smile creeping onto his face, "I don't believe it!"

The Hollow moved his hand and looked at the unconscious face of his King, sighing in relief. Rukia approached Ichigo, not quite believing what she was seeing. Tears couldn't be restrained. She ran over to him, laughing with relief. Then, she did something she had never imagined. She hugged the Hollow.

The Hollow thought he was delirious. Exhaustion had finally gotten the better of him, right? Because there was no way in HELL that a Shinigami was _hugging_ him.  
"Thank you!" she whispered, tears soaking his clothes, "Thank you!"

Then she let go, running towards Ichigo. The Hollow blinked, more than surprised, eye twitching. What was the world coming to?

Tensa Zangetsu and Shirayuki looked at the Hollow's startled, disturbed expression and laughed. The Hollow snarled at them, so thankful that he couldn't blush.

Rukia was ignoring them, just watching her friend sleep off his terrible ordeal. Then a very important question occurred to her.

_How was she going to get out of here?_


	21. Chapter 21

Hi guys. This is going to be the last chapter for this story. Thanks once again for all those people who have stuck with it until now. Thank you for all the reviews and PMs, they have all been really helpful and supportive. I'm going to write more. I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Once more, Bleach isn't mine.

"So, how am I getting it out of here?" Rukia asked from beside Ichigo, confident they would know how.

The two sword spirits stopped laughing and the Hollow stared. Rukia's confidence crumbled.

"Did not think of that one!" the Hollow muttered, brow furrowing.

"Tensa," Shirayuki said, looking at the boy next to her, "Could we get back to Rukia's inner world from here?"

Tensa looked at her uneasily. "I'm not sure. Wouldn't it be better if we waited for the Guardian to wake? I'm sure she could do something to help us."

"Then why don't you wake her up?" Shirayuki asked, nicely. Tensa paled, shaking his head adamantly. Shirayuki glared at him. With some resignation, he turned towards the little girl.

The Hollow snorted. "Good luck, Tensa, you'll need it."

Tensa shot the Hollow a death glare. He crouched down and shook her shoulder.

"Guardian?"

There was no response except shallow breathing from the little girl. He called her again to no avail. Then, he shook his head.

"There's no other option," he murmured to himself, "I'm going to have to do it."

The Hollow shook his head. "Your funeral, Tensa."

Gently, Tensa put his hand over her face, his spiritual pressure giving the little girl something similar to an electric shock. Then he ran like crazy.

The Guardian bolted up, instantly alert. She looked around for the culprit. She spied Tensa almost immediately. She flash-stepped in front of him and kicked him in the shins. The Hollow laughed.

"You got MIDGET-KICKED, Tensa!" he hollered, still laughing crazily.

The Guardian flash-stepped in front of him, growling menacingly. The Hollow gulped before giving her a thumbs-up. "Well done."

The Guardian smiled happily and knelt down by Ichigo.

"Is he going to be alright?" she asked, sounding worried. Rukia nodded, smiling. The Guardian sighed in relief.

"So, why did I get woken up?" she asked, glaring at Tensa, who was rubbing his shin.

"Rukia and Shirayuki need to get out of here, it's time for them to leave." Tensa stated, walking over to her.

"To her inner world or the real world?"

"You can get me to the real world?" Rukia marvelled, staring. The Guardian nodded.

"Will you help Shirayuki get to Rukia's inner world and get Rukia to the real world?" Tensa requested, sounding tired.

"Say no more, Zanny Junior! I'll help Rukia-chan!" the little girl sang, getting lightly to her feet.

Tensa Zangetsu scowled as the Hollow started to laugh. "How many times must I tell you to _not _call me that?"

"Come on Zangetsu," Shirayuki smiled, "the nickname has merit!"  
"Not you too, Shirayuki!"

Weak coughing broke off the argument-to-be. Rukia looked down at Ichigo. He was pale and coughing in a way that reminded her of Captain Ukitaki. That wasn't a good thing. The coughs subsided and he groaned quietly. The Guardian looked at him.

"Oh, King-chan's awake! Hooray!"

Ichigo looked at her in utter bewilderment. "What in the Soul Society is a _little girl_ doing in my head?"

She pouted. "That's not very nice, King-chan! I know you didn't notice, but I live here too!"

Ichigo stared at her. Then he looked at Zangetsu. "How many people actually live here?" he asked, still in shock.

"Just me, you, the Hollow and her, why?"

"Don't you think that-"

"You should see a psychiatrist, King?" the Hollow snickered. Ichigo glared at him.

"No! Shut up!"

"He makes a valid point." Rukia said, smiling, "As far as I know there are just me and Shirayuki in my head."

"Yeah, and no _brain!_" Ichigo retorted, smiling evilly.

Rukia glowered at him and smacked him around the head. She smiled as he rubbed his head and glared at her. Then, he winced as the movement hurt his chest.

"King-chan," the Guardian said, "Rukia-chan says she's got to go."

"Yes please, I fear insanity might be contagious." Rukia muttered under her breath.

"So THAT'S how I got it!" Ichigo said, shooting Rukia an evil grin. His Hollow started laughing with him and Tensa smirked. Rukia glowered, but inside she was happy. If he could tease her, then he could live. The little Guardian nodded. She breathed deeply and clapped her hands. Light spun around her and Shirayuki and when it had cleared, they were gone.

Ichigo sighed deeply and rubbed his chest. He looked at his Hollow and his face turned serious.

"Thank you," he said quietly, "You saved my life."

"Don't get used to it, King."

Ichigo smirked. Then he groaned again. Now that he was more awake, the pain was returning. He tried to sit up, but he couldn't do it. Then a horrible thought occurred to him. If he couldn't move in here, where his spiritual pressure was doing all it could to help him, what would he be like in the world of the living? Then, another idea occurred to him. He shot a sneaky glance at his white counterpart and grinned.

"Hollow?"  
"What?"  
"How would you like to visit the world of the Living?"

Rukia groaned blearily as she sat up. She was lying in the Urahara Shoten. She wasn't surprised. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Strong hands pushed her down gently.

"No Rukia," said someone next to her, "Urahara has told me not to allow you to move."

Rukia blinked in shock. Sat next to her, looking a little paler than normal, was Byakuya.

"Nii-sama! You're alright!" she said, smiling happily.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "Of course, Rukia. It takes more than that Kurosaki brat to kill me."

"Thankfully," Rukia muttered, still smiling.

Byakuya's expression softened a little.

"Urahara told me that you entered Kurosaki's inner world to save him." he said quietly.

"Yes, Nii-sama."

"That was either very foolish or very brave, Rukia. You are lucky you weren't hurt by whatever lives in there."

"There are a lot of things that live there, Nii-sama."

Byakuya shook his head. "Why am I not surprised?"

Suddenly, they heard shouting from behind them. Byakuya turned around and Rukia craned her neck to look around him.

Ichigo was being pinned to the ground by Tessai, struggling.

"Oh, joy," Byakuya muttered, "Kurosaki's awake."

"How many times do I have to say this?" the orange-haired boy growled, "I'm NOT ICHIGO!"

Byakuya stood, his hand going to his zanpakto. "You're his Hollow, aren't you?"

He nodded, despite Tessai sitting on him. "Yeah, but I'm not gonna harm ya! I swear!"

"Why should we believe that?" Byakuya said, sceptically.

"Just ask the woman! I'm here because King _asked _me to be here! He got hurt because he's an idiot, and because he's recovering, he asked me to be here!"

Byakuya looked at Rukia. "Is this true?"

"Ichigo _did_ get hurt, but this invitation thing is news to me."

"That settles it," Urahara said, fluttering the fan in front of his face, "Tessai-"

Suddenly, the Hollow went limp.

"He's telling the truth." said a weak voice coming from Ichigo's mouth, "I asked him to do this!"

"Kurosaki-san?" Urahara exclaimed, sounding shocked, "You asked him to take over?"

"Yeah, I can barely move in my inner world, let alone out here. I'm going to recover a bit before I come back. He's here on conditions that he doesn't kill anyone and that he lets me do the talking when I'm around my family and friends. If he breaks the rules, well," Ichigo's face smiled slightly, "there's more than one person in here that's willing to help me get him."

"But...why?" Urahara said, still not understanding.

Ichigo shook his head. "Right now, I...I can't do much more than talk. I can't feel my legs and I haven't got my zanpakto yet. He, however, can still fight and work and stop anyone getting too suspicious. Keep an eye on him Hat-and-clogs."

Then, Ichigo went away and the Hollow was back, failing to see that Tessai would _not_ be moved. Then Urahara produced a needle from inside his sleeve. The Hollow stared at it, wide-eyed.

"Why the hell do you have a needle?" he asked, sounding slightly fearful. "What're you doing? HEY! WOAH! TAKE THAT THING SOMEWHERE ELSE YA HEAR ME?! ARGH!"

Urahara stuck the needle in his arm. Quickly, he pushed the plunger down and red liquid seeped into his veins. He froze, wide-eyed, and Tessai got up.

"What did you do, Urahara?" Rukia shouted, sounding concerned.

"Nothing life-threatening! That little injection will do three things. One, it acts as a painkiller. Two, it will tell me where the Hollow is at all times and it will allow him to be monitored to make sure he isn't _murdering_ people and three, it allows me to incapacitate him if he _is_ doing anything wrong. It'll fade when Ichigo comes back."  
"Why do you people hate me so much?" the Hollow pouted, "It's a little uncalled for don't ya think?"

"No," Byakuya said in his usual monotone, "You tried to kill me."

"Pity I didn't!"

Byakuya's eyes narrowed.

"Kisuke!" Rukia said, trying to divert her brother's anger, "Why do you have something like that, anyway?"

"How do you think I keep Ururu and Jinta under control?"

Rukia gaped at him.

"Please tell me your joking, Kisuke."

He smiled mysteriously and walked out the room. "Get well soon Kuchiki-san. That Hollow's not leaving my shop until you're better."

"WHAT?!"

Inside Ichigo's inner world, Tensa smiled and Ichigo laughed.

"You did that on purpose didn't you,King?" the voice of the Hollow whined. Tensa shook his head, still smiling.

" If you think for one moment _I'm_ going to be Hat-and-clog's medical study, you can think twice!"

They both laughed.

"DAMN YOU KING!"Hkyliuybgut

_The end._


	22. A sequel?

Hi people! This is just to say that, by popular demand, I _will_ do a sequel to this. I am open to suggestions, so PM or review this of you want to see anything in it.

It will be about what happens to poor Hollow Ichigo now that Ichigo has left him in charge of his body.

It will be called: Hollow Days

See ya soon, C. O'R


End file.
